Born on July 12, 1971, Joel Casamayor was not destined for the greatness of a professional boxer because he was born in communist Cuba. Although Cuba is a powerhouse, with an amateur boxing program that is admired and feared, it is also a country where athletes remain in love for the entirety of their lives.
Casamayor was almost the same. He went to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and defeated Ireland’s Wayne McCullough to win the bantamweight Gold medal. In 1993, he won Silver at the World Amateur Championships, then Bronze at the 1994 World Cup, and Silver again at the 1994 Charity Games. At the age of 25, he went on to compete again in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics after failing. In September of the same year Casamayor in pro. 2 1/2 years later, he had captured the NABF 130lbs title (regional belt) and was an established world champion.
Nicknamed “The Brush” for his fearsome, razor-sharp uppercut, Casamayor stood 5’7″ tall with a 67″ putt. He comes from an amateur career with some serious flaws: trainer Joe Goossen claims that Casamayor did not know much about fighting after the defeat, a fairly common complaint among boxers who train only for the amateur environment. The boxer developed a well-rounded fist to the south. He was quick, eluded the defense, tricky, and had solid pop punches.
Super thin
In May 2000, he challenged the undefeated Jwon-Kwan Baek of South Korea for the WBA Super Featherweight title. Bek beat him and won 5. He went on to defend the title four times in five fights, winning all five.
That brought him into a clash with Acelino Freitas, an undefeated boxer with samba-esque verve from Brazil. It was a close fight, and like Leonard-Hearns 1, the two fighters crossed roles in the battle. Casamayor turned the punch, while Freitas turned the boxer. In the 3rd round, Casamayor suffered a blanket slip that many thought was a slip, and later led to a knockdown after the bell in an incident few ringside observers thought was intentional or important. All three judges scored the bout 114-112, indicating that if Casamayor had lost a single point, it would have been a draw. As it was, “0” and he lost his title. Despite suffering the first loss, Casamayor was clearly not defeated.
On a comeback trail, Brush went through a trio of fights in 2002 and 2003, including a decisive victory over the undefeated Nate Campbell (who would go on to become the world lightweight champion). In a conflict with his fellow comebacker Diego Corrales, he led the wins. Lanky Corrales took Casamayor into a perfect fight that saw Corrales in the 3rd, down, then Casamayor in the 4th, and then Corrales again! The battle was dropped at 6 due to a pair of terrible cuts passed by Corrales to the inside of his mouth.
Results like that clamor for a rematch that in March 2004. Fighting for the WBO belt vacated by Freitas, the two contenders had another tough battle that saw Corrales hit the canvas again in the 10th. Despite the knockdown, Corrales did enough to earn a close Split Decision over Casamayor.
Levi
After losing his second shot at the 130-pound title, Casamayor moved up to 135 pounds in search of better opportunities. He just had a shot at WBC Champion Jose Luis Castillo. Castello has been a classic Mexican fighter and many believe he will beat Mayweather in their first meeting. Fought on Showtime in December 2004, the two put on an exciting contest that Casamayor narrowly lost by split decision. Again, the brush had come up a little shorter.
After losing the castle, Casamayor Almazbek Raiymkulov fought invincible. Since this Kyrgyz fighter was not known at the time and was doing little notable, he started whispering to many, maybe 34 years old Casamayor is getting shopworn. He ended his doubt in an October 2006 rubber match with Diego Corrales. Corrales wasn’t able to make weight, but the fight went anyway and Corrales went in like a much bigger man. Despite this setback, Casamayor made it a tough fight and pulled out a split decision win, going 2-1 with his opponent and the vacant WBC Lightweight Title.
However, Casamayor later lost this title in typical WBC political crap. Casamayor sought rematch with Acelino Freitas, the WBC insisted he fight with #1 contender David Diaz. When Casamayor signed a contract to fight Freitas (certainly the bigger fight of the two), the WBC stripped him. The fight with Freitas then fell through after that, leaving an unfortunate Joel Casamayor with nothing.
Now 36 years old and without a title, Casamayor has had few chances for big fights in the lightweight division. In March 2008, Michael Katsidis fought with the Greco-Australian banger, and in another hard-fought fight, he knocked him out on the 10th. It is a strong statement that there are still forces to be reckoned with.
He won a September 2008 fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, a skilled counterpuncher who had emerged as Manny Pacquiao’s chief rival. Casamayor contained the first four stanzas, repeatedly pinning Marquez for the count with left jabs. A clash of heads in the 5th Casamayor cut, and from there the momentum changed as Marquez found a way to do the kicks from the outside. However, every time Marquez tried to get in, he found Casamayor’s leather in his face. In the 11th, Marquez Casamayor was caught trying to break out and prostrated. Brush got up, but Marquez was heavily moved and finished him off with a hard hitting joint. It was another close contest, when the two judges also went round the circle marked by the urbane. Again, Casamayor was just just short of a big profit.
Joe Casamayor remains active, having pulled out of his July 2009 return fight with Julio Diaz due to a back injury. Although unfairly unregulated by all four of the world’s major sanctioning bodies, he was rated a top 5 fighter by most boxing news. sources
Sources: Ring; boxrec.com; /
