Both guys had to fight HARD to shed their image as A) Julio Cesar Chavez s chief sparring partner and B) to get out of the assumption that they could not hang with the barreras, morales', of the world. I'm talking about jlc for a, jmm for b btw. Imagine the game Castillo that showed up for both Floyd fights, the two Corrales wars! And not the Ricky Hatton debacle nor losing his title on the scales! Now imagine the Juan Manuel Marquez who showed up for Pacquiao x 4! Money Mayweather, Barrera, Derek smoke gainer, without fighting the likes of morales not the style in which he fought Christopher John. This would be an all out brawl!!! Look at what Juan diaz the baby bull did to Marquez, he awakened the beast,!!! Luring him into a brawl x 2. Look at the dead game Castillo was for the first late great Corrales fight, and also remember the firepower he brought into the rematch! And to this day: Floyd still calls him "Castillio". Lol what would happen if these two brave mexicans squared off at lightweight? Both guys found themselves in the league of "elite" but at 135 only one wins, Jose Luis Castillo or Juan Manuel Marquez? And peace to Diego Corrales who was already not with us to be willing and able to close the trilogy with Jose Luis. God bless his soul!
Castillo by narrow decision if he gets one or two flash knockdown downs, otherwise it could go either way.
A past it Casamayor did pretty well against Marquez but lost to Castillo in his prime. He was skilled. Castillo performed better against Mayweather.
Casamayor had a case for winning against Castillo, I had it a draw. He finished on his back with Marquez. That’s also worth pointing out. I agree on their comparison vs. Floyd though, like most, I had Castillo winning the first fight, and competitive in fight II but Marquez was at a major size (and age) disadvantage.
The Marquez fight was after the gift against Santa Cruz and the bailout ko against Katsidis. Casamayor overachieved by being even on the cards against Marquez after 10. He was a really serious threat when he fought Castillo, probably about as good as Marquez ever was at that weight.
Marquez is greater fighter than Castillo - but lightweight was Castillo's territory. Marquez had some good wins even at 135 and higher, but I think He wasn't quite as effective there. At his best, I see Castillo being able to hurt JMM and using his strength to impose himself and inflict more damage. Marquez would definitely have a lot of offensive success and He could definitely pull it off - but I see him as an underdog here. Looking back, I don't think Marquez fought someone as big and as physical as prime Castillo at 135 and up... Pacquiao was never an inside fighter, Floyd and Bradley were boxers, Katsidis was lower level opponent and Alvarado didn't have much left... I think some clever match-making played it's part in Marquez's success at higher weight. He was at his best at 126-130. Like always, jmo.
