You got to go by what a guy did. Chico has wins over Garcia when he was streaking, Casa when he was on top form and other good wins like Gainer. That's at 130. Not to mention excellent wins in Freitas and Castillo. Casa was not past his prime when Castillo fought him. Casa, Castillo, Freitas, Corrales and Floyd all had close fights against each other. They were all excellent fighters. Castillos close fights with Johnston are indictive of the what Johnston could do. Unfortunately Johnston didn't do what he could do on paper. I consider Johnston an excellent fighter. Some consider him undefeated until he fought Lazcano. They don't think he lost to Bazan or Castillo.
Castillo imo has been a bordrline great. He has put in very consistent, (albeit not outstanding) perfromances, never being outclassed despite facing a high level of opposition. I have him ranked 46th all time as a lightweight. The lightweights go deeper than any division in the sport, and the ranking I have for him is not an insult imo. At the same time he COULD be ranked as high as 30 without it being in any way absurd, as there is not much the separates guys in the 30-50 bracket. One of the deciding factors in ranking him is deciding how his close fights against Mayweather, Johnston, Casamayor and Lazcano went. Other than both Johnston fights, which I had Stevie edging, I think he beat the others. Although admittedly, all those close bouts could have gone either way. Here's my list: 1. Roberto Duran 2. Benny Leonard 3. Henry Armstrong 4. Joe Gans 5. Pernell Whitaker 6. Ike Williams 7. Julio Cesar Chavez 8. Barney Ross 9. Tony Canzoneri 10. Carlos Ortiz 11. Alexis Arguello 12. Jack Blackburn 13. Lew Tendler 14. Lou Ambers 15. Dave Holly 16. Esteban DeJesus 17. Beau Jack 18. Bob Montgomery 19. Ken Buchanan 20. Jack McAuliffe 21. Sammy Mandell 22. Jimmy Carter 23. Freddie Welsh 24. Willie Ritchie 25. Oscar De la Hoya 26. Ismael Laguna 27. Joe Brown 28. Shane Mosley 29. Floyd Mayweather 30. Battling Nelson 31. Wes Ramey 32. Willie Joyce 33. Lew Jenkins 34. Ad Wolgast 35. George Lavinge 36. Billy Petrolle 37. Sammy Angott 38. Hector Camacho 39. Jimmy Britt 40. Rocky Kansas 41. Mando Ramos 42. Ray Mancini 43. Jose Luis Ramirez 44. Edwin Rosario 45. Ritchie Mitchell 46. Jose Luis Castillo 47. Jim Watt 48. Stevie Johnston (That's excluding Napoles, Pryor, Locche, Loi, McFarland and Griffo who I rate at different weights.)