Thinking about it, I like Castillo, very narrowly, over twelve rounds --- a toss-up through fifteen. Castillo never got the credit he deserved during his career as a Lightweight force (now is a different story, however), & Buchanan ranks, for me, as a top-thirty all-time Lightweight --- higher praise than it initially appears, for this is the steepest division for all-time legends, IMO. I see Buchanan early, & Castillo late, with the fight getting mighty even on the cards at the back-end.
Buchanan by UD. He was a tough SOB who Castillo aint grinding down, and he had more then enough skills to outbox JL. Castillo aint no Duran.
Ooh.....excellent fight. Still think Castillo is underrated by most, he was a GOOD champion and his resume (which might have included Mayweather as well as Casamoyer, Corrales, Bazan, Johnston, Diaz and Lazcano) is impressive. I think he'd be a deserving HOF fighter, not another who degrades it's prestige. Nah, he wasn't Duran, but since Buchanan was beaten so clearly by Duran it doesn't quite need Duran to beat him. Buchanan was a phenomenally sharp counter puncher (as much so as May? Maybe, IMO, though more hittable in the process), but the impressive way Castillo was able to deal with movers like Mayweather, Casamoyer & Johnston tempts me to lean his way here, though I think Buchan would have several dominant rounds in the early to middle going. Castillo, razor thin 8-6-1 type affair. They probably split a trilogy, one way or another.
haven't seenmuch of Buchanan (only the duran fight). But from what I've seen, I think JLC by dec is a safe pick
Wouldn't that be like saying I'd only seen Castillo against Hatton, & concluding Buchanan was a safe pick, based on his performances against the likes of Laguna, Navarro, & Kobayashi?
A bit different, since there's more similiraty between Castillo and Duran, than between Hatton and Buchanan (even if castillo and duran are not really similar). Still, as I said, I have a limited knowledge of buchanan, I won't take a strong stance on this matchup.
Good question. This is the problem with these mythical match ups - day before weigh ins have effectively moved every fighter post that point down at least 1 maybe 2 divisions. I like to just put my fingers in my ears, close my eyes & pretend the problem doesn't exist.
Probably Buchanan by close decision. Tough fighter, good boxer, good counterpuncher, and let his hands go enough. Ken by very close decision.
Buchanan is one of my faves... tough, game SOB and a wonderful boxer... he'd have to battle Castillo hard but I like his combination punching and his legs to get him a close decision in a good tussle