26.02.04 – By Fiona Manning: Now the truth is out. Despite all talk of former WBA 130 pound champion and WBO No. 1 contender Joel Casamayor abruptly leaving longtime trainer Joe Goossen to train in “a beautiful mountain camp in Paso Robles, CA” the truth is Casamayor never left the LA area.
Eastside Boxing learned today that Casamayor has been holed up in Phil Paolina’s New York City Boxing Club, a stone’s throw from his former base camp in the San Fernando Valley.
So who’s zooming who?
While this talk has reached the Corrales/Goossen camp in their final days of preparation for the rematch of Casamayor vs Corrales on March 6 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, they invited select members of the media today to talk to Corrales.
They merely shake their heads at this news.
“All I can say is I have never had a better camp,” said Corrales who has clearly forged a good working relationship with Goossen.
Sporting a Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero T-shirt, Corrales said, “I am his newest fan.”
Corrales and feather phenomenon Guerrero sparred in a closed five round session this morning and Corrales found out what some of the biggest names in town are finding out: Guerrero hits like a heavyweight.
“He is fast, very fast. I dig this guy,” said Corrales donning the T-shirt and skipping rope before settling down to do interviews for Showtime and the waiting media.
By the time he sat down for the TV cameras however, the Guerrero T-shirt was soaked through and replaced.
Still, Corrales could not stop smiling. “I am so grateful for this fight because I want to prove I am the best,” he told Eastside Boxing.
“I want to prove I can beat Casamayor and any of the other thirty pounders out there. I am glad we were able to make this rematch happen.”
Indeed, Corrales looks in much better shape than he did for his first fight with Casamayor. At the pre-fight press breakfast at Mandalay Bay for the first fight, Corrales looked ashen and drawn.
‘I thought he was weight-drained truthfully in that fight,” said Goossen. “Not this time. He looks incredible, doesn’t he?”
Yes he does. Corrales also seems relaxed and confident…sort of how Casamayor looked after his training camp for the first Corrales fight.
Corrales, the former IBF 130 pound champion has become part of the Ten Goose Team and chats amiably with the rest of Goossen’s stable.
“We’re a family,” he said. “I feel very supported here. It’s been intense but I can honestly say Joe’s taught me some things.”
As the worst tropical storm in recent California memory blew down from Casamayor’s alleged training camp locale and prepared to hit Los Angeles, the mood in the gym is ebullient.
“We’ve had a good camp,” said Goossen, barely able to contain his energy in his cmpact, hard body. He’s as anxious to get this fight on as Corrales is himself.
“The first fight swung both ways,” said Goossen. “There was a lot of damage done on both sides.”
Corrales nods in agreement.
Where they might disagree is the point of the fight being stopped. Corrales was upset at the time but time has tempered his feelings on the subject.
“Fighters never like to be stopped on cuts,” said Goossen. “But I had no problem with the stoppage and I still don’t.
“Diego is very easy to work with. He’s willing to listen. He made some mistakes in the first fight and I’m not going to get into what they are since it’s part of our strategy, it’s the key to our fight – but he’s made the work very easy.
“He’s very easy going, very friendly. A nice kid. He’s like a lot of fighters. An awfully nice guy until you get him in the ring.”
Corrales who does look freakishly thin normally at 130, actually looks robust and healthy.
“He’s been at 135, 140 the whole time he’s been here,” said Goossen. “I got him loading up on steak and carbs. I told him he’d drop the weight easier. He’s worked it off in the gym.
“He’s doing three workouts a day. He runs 45 minutes to an hour at Griffith Park or Balboa Park every morning, where incidentally we have run into Joel Casamayor almost every day. Then he has a morning and afternoon session here. I’ve worked him hard.”
Did Casamayor and Goossen talk?
“No,” Goossen said with a smile. “He was supposed to be in Paso Robles, remember?”