Miracle man; Miracle comeback
Posted: 21 Apr 2006, 17:49
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One of the most remarkable men in modern boxing, Jorge "Locomotora" Castro, launches a comeback tomorrow in Argentina - less than 12 months after he lay in a coma following a terrible car crash.
In June last year, three weeks after stopping American Derrick Harmon, Castro suffered pelvis, shoulder, thigh and rib fractures, along with punctured lungs, when he smashed into a tree in Buenos Aires.
"I only remember my first two days at the hospital," he said. "I was in a lot of pain but I was conscious. They induced a coma for three weeks in order to let me breathe through an artificial respirator."
Castro was on a winning run of seven at the time. One of the few fighters to score over 100 wins in an amazing - and prolific - career dating back to 1987, his record of 129-10-3 (89) reads like a "Who's who?" Roberto Duran, Terry Norris, Roy Jones Junior...
He won and lost to Duran (whose career ended in a similar accident), and went the distance with Norris and Jones. He stopped Alex Ramos in two, and former IBF cruiserweight champion Imamu Mayfield in nine in 2001.
Mayfield looked good here flattening Terry Dunstan.
He held the WBA middleweight title in the mid-90's, winning it with an upset points win over Reggie Johnson and making four successful defences. They included another win over Johnson and a sensational come-from-behind knockout of John David Jackson in Mexico in December 1994 (voted Fight of the Year by Ring Magazine), before he was outpointed by local man Shinji Takehara in Tokyo.
He went 12 rounds in a challenge for the IBF cruiserweight title against Vassiliy Jirov in 2002, rocking southpaw Jirov with right hands, and showed he was far from finished with that seven-round pounding of Harmon in a WBA light-heavyweight title eliminator in Buenos Aires last May. In 142 fights only one man has ever stopped him: Juan Carlos Gomez in 10 rounds in 2000.
"I died, went to heaven, but Saint Peter had the door locked with a double chain," said 38-year-old Castro at the press conference to announce his amazing comeback.
He takes on Colombian puncher Jose Luis Herrera tomorrow at the legendary Luna Park.
One of the most remarkable men in modern boxing, Jorge "Locomotora" Castro, launches a comeback tomorrow in Argentina - less than 12 months after he lay in a coma following a terrible car crash.
In June last year, three weeks after stopping American Derrick Harmon, Castro suffered pelvis, shoulder, thigh and rib fractures, along with punctured lungs, when he smashed into a tree in Buenos Aires.
"I only remember my first two days at the hospital," he said. "I was in a lot of pain but I was conscious. They induced a coma for three weeks in order to let me breathe through an artificial respirator."
Castro was on a winning run of seven at the time. One of the few fighters to score over 100 wins in an amazing - and prolific - career dating back to 1987, his record of 129-10-3 (89) reads like a "Who's who?" Roberto Duran, Terry Norris, Roy Jones Junior...
He won and lost to Duran (whose career ended in a similar accident), and went the distance with Norris and Jones. He stopped Alex Ramos in two, and former IBF cruiserweight champion Imamu Mayfield in nine in 2001.
Mayfield looked good here flattening Terry Dunstan.
He held the WBA middleweight title in the mid-90's, winning it with an upset points win over Reggie Johnson and making four successful defences. They included another win over Johnson and a sensational come-from-behind knockout of John David Jackson in Mexico in December 1994 (voted Fight of the Year by Ring Magazine), before he was outpointed by local man Shinji Takehara in Tokyo.
He went 12 rounds in a challenge for the IBF cruiserweight title against Vassiliy Jirov in 2002, rocking southpaw Jirov with right hands, and showed he was far from finished with that seven-round pounding of Harmon in a WBA light-heavyweight title eliminator in Buenos Aires last May. In 142 fights only one man has ever stopped him: Juan Carlos Gomez in 10 rounds in 2000.
"I died, went to heaven, but Saint Peter had the door locked with a double chain," said 38-year-old Castro at the press conference to announce his amazing comeback.
He takes on Colombian puncher Jose Luis Herrera tomorrow at the legendary Luna Park.