The Best of Diego Corrales

March 26

Tonight at 8 pm est, ESPN-Classic will feature a tribute to one of the most exciting warriors of our era, Diego Corrales. Born in August, 1977, Corrales grew up knowing gang violence in the Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento. He became one of the top amateur boxers in the nation in the early-to-mid 1990s.

In the professional ranks, he won the Super Featherweight and Lightweight titles. He fought wars against the best of his time, including Floyd Mayweather, Joel Casamayor, and Acelino Freitas. But he will always be remembered for his first fight against Jose Luis Castillo.

That fight took place on May 7, 2005. Sports fans who watched it will never forget that one. It was exciting, back-and-forth action for about six rounds, then it became brutal. By the 10th round, I think everyone thought Chico was done. But he got up and TKOed Castillo.

His career continued, but he left a lot in the ring that night. Then, two years to the day later, he died in a motorcycle accident near his home in Los Vegas.

Diego was one of boxing's "fan-friendly" ambassadors. I remember seeing him at ringside at a fight card. He was hanging out with other guys from the Hall of Fame weekend, and they were all having a great time, mingling with fight fans. I had thought that he would retire after his April '07 lose to Joshua Clottey, because the welterweights were too much for him. It seemed that he would become one of the best ringside commentators for either HBO or Showtime, because he really understood the sport, and had a gift for communicating the excitement he felt for boxing.

He was only 29 years old.