Boxing: Castillo Out to Rebuild Reputation By Fighting Hatton's Fire With Fire

José Luis Castillo promises he will defeat Ricky Hatton here tomorrow night to prove he is the best light-welterweight in the world. He smiles as he sits on the edge of the ring in the gymnasium where he has completed his preparations for the contest, amused by the suggestion that he has a walk-forward aggressive style that is tailor-made for the rampaging Hatton.

The 33-year-old Mexican measures his words as surely as the big punches he believes he can still produce to inflict a first professional defeat on Hatton and says: "He might think I am made for him, but I feel his style is absolutely right for me. He comes forward and I will not have to go looking for him. Ricky Hatton has had a lot of fights, but he has not seen anything like me. He is used to slow, cumbersome fighters, but I have real hand speed and that will cut him down.

"He says he will push me back and says that I cannot fight on the back foot. But I think the same thing about him. This could be a great fight, if he wants to box, but I know he can be a dirty fighter. If he tries any tricks with me, I will do the same to him. He should know I will do what it takes to win this fight.

"With Diego Corrales [the late Californian lightweight, whom he fought in two famously bruising bouts] you could see the punches coming, but that is not the case with Hatton because he comes at you from all angles and he is very reckless. If he comes out and uses his elbows and holds, then people won't like it. He knows how to be a real rough guy and there is no rhythm to what he does.

"But Ricky has got great heart and great courage. He has got to do what he has to do to win. And if he fights like he did in the first few rounds against Kostya Tszyu, it will be a great fight."

As a veteran of 63 contests, with a professional record that began more than 17 years ago, Castillo has mixed with the best. He twice took the brilliant Floyd Mayweather the distance, giving the man who is widely hailed as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world his hard nights. And he has recorded wins against impressive performers such as the Cuban Joel Casamayor and his great American rival Corrales, who recently died in a motorbike accident.

Like Hatton, Castillo has dedicated this contest to the memory of Corrales. They fought twice, first when Corrales got off the floor to stop him in the 10th round of one of the most thrilling contests in recent years. Then, in their second meeting two years ago, Castillo gained brutal revenge as he scored a stunning single-punch knockout in the fourth round. But that second fight was controversial because Castillo, physically huge for a lightweight, had experienced chronic weight-making difficulties. He had failed to make the championship limit, meaning the contest was stripped of its world-title status with Castillo having his purse slashed.

A proposed third meeting with Corrales had to be canceled last year when Castillo once more failed to make the weight, and he was left with a punishment of a six-month suspension and a $250,000 (£125,500) fine imposed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

"This is a new start for me," Castillo said. "I have trained well and everything has gone according to plan with my weight for this fight. People have questioned my commitment, but I know in my heart I want to keep fighting and beating Ricky Hatton will prove that I am a great boxer. I have the will to keep fighting.

"I love the sport and I still have things to prove. Boxing is in my blood. For me, it is natural because it is in me. I believe that Hatton, technically, is not as efficient as I am and I will exploit his weaknesses. He has a very big heart, and a good chin, but he is not good enough to beat me.

"I know it will be a very hard fight, and it will be exciting because of our styles. He comes forward and wants to throw a lot of punches, and I am the same. We are both very committed fighters and, when we step through the ropes, nobody is going to be disappointed. Ricky is a nice man. After this is over, we will sit down and drink some beer together, but this is my chance to start again."

Packing a punch

Ricky Hatton packs a punch with the force of almost half a tonne, according to scientific tests. Sensors were attached to a punchbag by researchers at the University of Manchester and they worked out that his punch registers 400kg - nearly half a tonne and 10 times the force of an ordinary mortal's. The average speed of his punches was 25mph - giving opponents a reaction time of less than a tenth of a second. His fastest was clocked at 32mph, a blistering left hook. After the experiments Hatton said: "It was great working with the experts and the technology, and for me it was really interesting to see just how fast and hard I can hit." He was tested by engineers from the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, led by Dr Qingming Li. They attached sensors to a 30kg (66lb) punchbag wired to a computer that analyzed the data. Hatton then hit the bag so hard that the sensor malfunctioned. "The level of force he generated was quite astonishing," Dr Li said.