The SNB Interview: Carlos Castro

From the outside looking in, Carlos Castro could have several reasons to be jaded about boxing. Castro was overlooked as a young fighter and it took him several years to sign with a large promoter. He's always been the B-side in his big fights. He lost a pair of split decisions in two of his most significant fights, and the paydays that would've come from those wins. He's also had several spells of inactivity.  

But in talking with Castro, he credits boxing with providing him and his family with many of the blessings that they have in their life. Even in the bad moments of his professional career – the close losses, the layoffs, the promotional issues – he sees everything as an opportunity to learn or work on his craft. His enthusiasm for the sport still shines through and his outlook on life is uniformly positive.   

Castro (30-3, 14 KOs) faces Bruce Carrington (16-0, 9 KOs) for the vacant WBC world featherweight title on January 31st at Madison Square Garden, which will be on the Teofimo Lopez-Shakur Stevenson card. For Castro, he knows that this will be the biggest opportunity of his career; he also understands what he's up against. As usual, Castro, 31, will be the B-side to Carrington who's from New York and has been a heavily hyped young fighter. Castro may not be the athlete that Carrington is, but he's fought tougher opposition and performed well in those opportunities. 

In a wide-ranging interview below, I talked with Carlos about his days as a young fighter, the big moments of his career, how he is approaching Carrington, his life outside of boxing, and much more. 

Interview by Adam Abramowitz:

This interview has been edited and condensed. 

Carlos, can you tell me where you grew up? 

I was born in Mexico, but I can’t really say I was raised there because at the age of three my parents brought me and my siblings to the United States. So, I basically grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. I essentially lived my whole live there until seven years ago when I moved to California to keep pursuing my dream. 

How were you initially exposed to boxing? 

Normally it’s because someone’s background has something to do with boxing, but I didn’t have that background at all. I want to say it’s destiny or something. We grew up in West Phoenix in a trailer park and around the corner from us was a bakery shop where my dad used to buy bread every night before bed. Across from that bakery was a little house gym where we would always see kids running or boxing and we just decided to stop and look at them. My dad told me if I wanted to try it out I could, and I did. And ever since then I never looked back. 

What was it about boxing that initially excited you? 

I was eight years old. It was the attention that it brought, the atmosphere. I got to meet new people out of school and out of my neighborhood. The excitement was very much about the training and everything surrounding that. 

Did you have a long amateur career? 

I had around 150 fights. I did a couple of tournaments. But I couldn’t do most major tournaments because of my citizenship. For the major tournaments you had to be a citizen of the United States and I wasn’t. 

Once I hit high school, I stopped boxing for a little bit. What can I say; the streets kind of caught my attention. I got called back to the sport due to my wife getting pregnant. I was just trying to better my future, as well as my kid’s, as he was about to come into the world. 

How old were you when you became a father for the first time? 

I had just turned 17. 

I saw that you did fight in the Silver Gloves tournament when you were an amateur.

Yeah, it was pretty cool. I actually won that three times. That was the only major tournament I could actually compete in all the way to nationals. Other than that, I used to go to the USA Boxing tournaments, but I could only advance to the regionals, unfortunately. I would win regionals, but whoever would win second place would advance instead of me. 

When you turned pro in Phoenix, what was the fight scene like? 

It was great. I turned pro with a great local promotion, Iron Boy Promotions, led by Roberto Vargas. They had a great venue with the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix. I don’t know if a lot of people have been there, but it’s a historic arena. The atmosphere was incredible there. 

Carlos Castro (left)
Photo courtesy of Carlos Castro

You were fighting a lot around Phoenix. At what point did you think that you might be able to advance to a higher level in the sport? 

It was always a dream. I believe it’s the dream of every fighter to do that. For me, I had a chance to fight on a Roy Jones Jr. card, I think in Glendale, and I won my fight against another undefeated fighter. I thought I could actually get seen by the bigger players in the sport. 

When Top Rank was doing fights in Arizona, they would put me on their undercards and I wanted an opportunity to grow, to be in this big-fight atmosphere with the top fighters. And that’s when I thought I could do it. 

What was the process like of signing with Top Rank? 

It took a while. I wish it would have happened sooner. But it was great. I’m thankful for them for opening doors for me, for the opportunity they gave me. 

You’re not known as a knockout artist. Were there people in the industry who looked at you negatively because you didn’t have a lot of KOs? Was that an issue for you? 

It didn’t concern me, but it was an issue. A lot of people would say, well you don’t have the one-punch knockout power and this and that. But it didn’t concern me because some people come with that natural power and some people don't. Fighters have to grow either way.

When you were a younger fighter, were there a couple of fighters that you looked up to? Do you have a few favorites that you have kept returning to over the years in terms of studying them? 

Coming up, Oscar de la Hoya was a big name for me. Now that I’m paying attention to great fight styles, I really look at Sugar Ray Leonard and Salvador Sanchez. Sanchez is a guy I really look up to a lot. 

What was you say is your best punch? 

My jab. 

How would you describe your fight style when you started and how have you evolved over the years? 

I always liked being a counterpuncher. My original pro trainer was also my amateur trainer, Andrew Soto. He’s the one who started me. I started out as a counterpuncher, but they kind of wanted me to go forward, you know, the Mexican style – hands up, forward, and stuff like that. But that’s when I transitioned. 

I went through a couple of other trainers as well. I was with Jose Benavidez for a while. Then I moved to California, and I was with Clemente Medina. I worked with Manny Robles. And now I’m working with Robert Alcazar. 

How long have you been training with Robert Alcazar and what is it about him that has appealed to you? 

I’ve been working with him for a few years. What I like is that he’s more of a technical trainer. He’s always talking to me about staying loose, staying relaxed, but staying aware. He wants me to know when to attack at the right time and when to box at the right time. It's been a good fit. 

Your first high-profile fight was with Luis Nery. A lot of people expected him to get a quick knockout. He had a really good start to the fight, but you came on strong in the second half. He wound up winning by a split decision. What did you learn about yourself from that fight with him? 

I learned from that fight that I could take a punch. Luis Nery is no walkover. He really does carry a punch. He’s a real good fighter. Unfortunately, he’s been undisciplined out of the ring and that hasn’t helped him. But what I learned is that I can be in the ring with world champions. I can compete with them. 

I’m not making excuses for that fight, but I think I stayed at that weight class [junior featherweight] for too long. I outgrew that weight class. I just didn’t see it. But it was a great fight. I learned that I can be there and I can compete. 

You had an interesting fight with Brandon Figueroa. You were doing very well in the fight for the first four, five rounds but ultimately he started smothering you. What were your memories of that fight? 

I was actually coming off that loss with Nery and I had just switched trainers to Robert Alcazar. I had only been working with him for about a week when we got the call to see if we wanted to take the fight. We were iffy about it, because the first time you’re working with a new trainer, you need to take some time to adapt to his style. But at the end of the day, we took it. 

What I remember about that fight is that we were doing well. I was following the game plan, staying on my toes. Like you said, he started smothering me and I started falling into bad habits. But I wasn’t really mentally there; I didn’t compete at that moment. So, he just smothered me, and he did his thing. 

You went from working with Top Rank to appearing on PBC cards. What was that transition like for you? 

At the beginning, leaving Top Rank, it was a bummer. You expect to stay with a promoter like Top Rank for a long time, but we mutually agreed that it wasn’t working out. 

And then transitioning to PBC was great. I was able to be on big cards, like the undercards of Pacquiao, the undercards of Canelo. Just seeing the exposure and seeing all that experience around, it was eye-opening.  

You had that great fight with Stephen Fulton, which I think that you should have won. What were your impressions of that fight? 

Everyone asks me about that fight. And though I’ve put it in the past, I think I did very well that night. I think I did a lot better than people expected. And I was just doing it for myself. I said, hey Carlos, you got to prove it to yourself that you belong in these types of big fights. 

What it came down to was me taking off some rounds and it was bad timing. Everyone takes a round off here or there, but I did it in a bad way, where he was able to kind of catch up. I learned a lot about myself in that fight. And it gave me experience in how to control fights better.

You knocked Fulton down in the fifth round. You weren’t supposed to be the puncher in that fight and yet everyone was in shock when he hit the canvas. What were your thoughts at that moment? 

Honestly, I was shocked myself. I had to keep my composure. I still talk about that punch. It was just a short, little counter right hand. It wasn’t coming with much power, but it was just a well-located, high-caliber punch. 

As you switched from Phoenix to Southern California, I’m sure that you’ve picked up some great sparring in the gyms. Have there been a couple of people that have given you great sparring work over the years that you remember? 

Everywhere you go there’s great sparring. There are always people looking for sparring. I had some great sparring in Manny Robles’ gym with guys from Japan. That style, the way they move was very different. I had some great sparring over the years with Leo Santa Cruz, his experience, his punches, the way he locates them. His combinations were eye-opening. For a guy like me, to learn from someone great like that, it was a great experience. 

Photo courtesy of Carlos Castro

When did you know in your own career that you could hang with the top fighters in the sport? 

It wasn’t in the gym. I think it was the fights themselves that taught me that. Top Rank gave me one of my toughest fights of my career, the Genesis Servania fight. Everyone didn’t think I was ready for it. It was a big test for me. I don’t know if I was supposed to win that fight or not. 

I was saying Carlos, you can actually hang with him. This guy was just coming from giving Oscar Valdez one of the toughest fights of his career. And I beat him, so I deserve to be here. 

You’re coming back from a long layoff of over a year. Being a professional for over a decade, how do you deal with the downtime? 

It’s a layoff, but we’ve been working this whole time. We’ve been at the gym. We’ve been practicing on our craft, those little things that you need to work on. I’m not one of those guys that leaves the gym and only comes back when I have a fight date. 

We were actually supposed to fight Rey Vargas on the Gervonta Davis-Lamont Roach card, but it fell through. We did a full training camp for that fight and then they postponed it. Then they postponed it again and then Vargas said that he wouldn’t be ready until next year. After that we slowed down our training a little bit. But then the Bruce Carrington fight came up. 

It’s all mentality. If you let it get to you where you say, hey we’ve been having a layoff, it’s going to get to you. For me it’s not a layoff because I’ve been training. I’ve been in the gym. And now it’s just me showing my mentality of hey, Carlos, this is the biggest opportunity that you’re going to get. It’s time to go. 

Now you’re facing Bruce Carrington, who’s a Top Rank fighter, but it’s not on a Top Rank card, do you currently have a promotional contract? 

I have a working relationship with TGB Promotions. 

I’m sure that you’ve seen Bruce Carrington fight before. I won’t ask you for a game plan because that’s not fair, but what are your impressions of him? 

He’s a hungry, great fighter who brings a lot of energy. Like any fighter, we all have flaws and that’s going to be the difference in this fight: who can expose the other guy’s flaws better. It will be about who will be on their A-game that night. But he’s a great fighter and someone I’m looking forward to sharing the ring with. 

Is there anyone you brought in specifically to this camp to help prepare you for Carrington? 

We brought in some very good fighters, no big names, but we brought in some Ukrainians, some good counterpunchers, some long fighters. But as I’ve always said: every fight is different, no matter who it is or what they have done before. It’s about what we’re going to do on that night. 

I know that Carrington is guy who likes to fight in the pocket and slug it out at times, even if he doesn’t need to. Are you comfortable in an inside fight? If you had your druthers, what’s your preferred style of fighting? 

I feel comfortable on the inside, but as they say: If it’s not necessary, why do it?  I’ll be more comfortable in the mid-ranges, poking him out, seeing what he can do from mid-range because as you said, he often likes to be on the inside. I’ve never really seen him fight from the mid-range or from the long range. 

What could you tell us about your life outside of boxing? 

Now I live in Fullerton, California. I’ve been living here for the past seven years. My daughter was just two or three months old when me moved and my son was seven. Now they’re big. My son’s going to be 15. My daughter just turned 8. 

My lifestyle outside of the ring is just being a father. I talked to my wife recently about this. Boxing has given me a lot. It’s given me the chances I couldn’t have had if I had a regular job. Being in my kids’ lives, being involved in their activities, it’s great. My daughter does gymnastics. My son plays soccer for a club. Being involved in their routines, taking him to his soccer games on the weekends, traveling with them and just being in their lives, there’s something great about it. 

Do you like staying in California for your training camps? 

Yes. When I first moved here I said we’re going to be here for a year and then move back to Arizona. But California really grew on me and it would be hard for me to move back now. 

Have there been one or two people who have really helped you out in your career, who have shaped who you have become as a fighter or a person? 

Someone who’s always been there for me has been my first promoter, Roberto Vargas. He’s been there as a promoter and a friend, giving me advice about boxing and life, about fatherhood and the future. 

My wife has been there for me as well. As fighters, we go through ups and downs. And there are often things that we don’t talk about, but she’s helped me out a lot. She’s opened up my eyes in many different ways and gives me great advice. 

Did she have a background or exposure to boxing before meeting you? 

No, she didn’t know anything about boxing. She didn’t even know I was a fighter when we first met. 

Returning to your upcoming fight, how does it feel to be on a huge card like this, where the eyes of the boxing world will be watching? 

It feels great. This atmosphere, being at this stage of my career, I'm sure it's going to bring out the best in me. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. As I said, boxing has taken me to so many places where I just have to take advantage of it and embrace everything coming, and have fun doing it. 

What does it mean to you to be fighting in Madison Square Garden?

It means a lot. You always had big fights and big names there. Miguel Cotto fought there a lot. I always remember that. And to have the opportunity to fight there, it means the world to me. I’m really looking forward to it.

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. 

He's a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

snboxing on twitter. SN Boxing on Facebook