Castillo Cold Clocks Corrales

LAS VEGAS, NV - Jose Luis Castillo knocked out World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization champ Diego Corrales in a non-title lightweight fight here on Saturday.

A strong and clean left hook by Castillo floored Corrales 47 seconds into the fourth.

Corrales rose at the end of referee Joe Cortez's 10-count but fell into the ropes as his corner grabbed him.

Corrales, who suffered a cut over the right eye in the second round, saw his record drop to 40-3, 33 KOs.

The quick win served as a measure of revenge for Castillo's shocking loss to Corrales, 40-3 in May.

Castillo lost his belt in that fight after knocking down Corrales twice in the 10th but getting TKO'd moments later in a stunning reversal.

Saturday's result was a thunderous end to a wild weekend that saw Castillo miss the target weight of 135 pounds on three occasions Friday and included a suspension for Castillo's doctor for tampering with the scale.

The challenger from Mexico showed no ill effects and controlled Corrales early.

Castillo consistently landed left hooks in the first round and forced some swelling around Corrales' eyes by the second. The 31-year-old Castillo combined a left hook and a straight right during the third that staggered the champion and wasted little time in the fourth.

The decisive blow came in an instant as the two combatants leaned on each other in the middle of the ring.

After a brief exchange, Corrales dropped his right arm, opening the door for Castillo's hook and an abrupt end.

"I knew he wasn't getting up," said Castillo, now 53-7-1 (47 KOs), after the fight was stopped.

Despite the victory, Corrales keeps his titles because Castillo had weight problems at the official weigh-in on Friday.

Castillo blamed the weight fiasco on a rib injury suffered in training.

"I apologize for not making the weight," Castillo said. "It was a mistake and it will never happen again. If Top Rank wants us to have a third fight, we'll do it. We're ready."

A third meeting between the two is almost certain.

On the undercard, Jorge Arce retained his World Boxing Council interim flyweight title with a technical knockout of Australia's Hussein Hussein in the second round on Saturday.

Arce, who boosted his record to 41-3-1 with 31 KOs, knocked Hussein down twice before Hussein's corner threw in the towel and the fight was stopped at 2:50 of the second.

This was a rematch of their March battle which was also won by Arce.

Bobby Roy
West Coast Correspondent

Information from other publications and wire services was used in the compilation of this report.