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Javier Castillejo
Born	Francisco Javier Castillejo Rodríguez (1968-03-22)22 March 1968 (age 57) Parla,Madrid, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Other names	El Lince de Parla ("The Lynx of Parla")
Statistics
Weight(s)	Welterweight Light-middleweight Middleweight
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[1]
Reach	70 in (178 cm)[1]
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	72
Wins	62
Wins by KO	43
Losses	8
Draws	1
No contests	1

Francisco Javier Castillejo Rodríguez (born 22 March 1968), commonly known asJavier Castillejo, is a Spanish formerprofessional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2009. He held multiple world championships in twoweight classes, including theWBC andlineallight-middleweight titles from 1999 to 2001, the WBC light-middleweight title again in 2005, and theWBAmiddleweight title from 2006 to 2007. At regional level he held theEuropean light-middleweight title twice between 1994 and 1998, and theEuropean Union middleweight title in 2002.

Castillejo made his professional debut on 22 July 1988, when he outpointed Ángel Díez over six rounds inMadrid. He had an immediate rematch with Díez, on 2 September of the same year. Their second fight resulted in Castillejo's firstknockout win, when he beat Diez in the fourth round. On 4 November, he had his first fight outside Madrid, and his first knockout win in the first round, when he beat Juan Perez inTorrejón.

Castillejo had four more wins, before he was defeated for the first time. On 19 August 1989, he lost an eight-round decision toDel Bryan, inBenidorm. But he followed that loss with a streak of twenty two victories in a row.

Among the most notable wins during that streak were a fourth-round knockout on 19 October 1990, of Alfonzo Redondo, which gave Castillejo the SpanishWelterweight Championship, atLeganés. On 5 July 1991, he retained that national championship, with another fourth-round knockout victory, this time against Domingo Sanchez, inLugo. On 10 April 1992, Castillejo got his first win against a former or future world champion when he knocked out formerIBFlightweight champion,Puerto RicanHarry Arroyo, in three rounds at Leganes. He followed that victory with another win against former WBClight welterweight championSaoul Mamby ofJamaica, by an eight-round decision on 15 May, atBilbao. On 12 December of that year, Castillejo added the WBC's MundoHispano light middleweight title, when he defeated Enrique Areco by a twelve-round decision inOviedo.

Despite the fact that he had not fought outside Spain as a professional yet and thus he had little international fan recognition as a boxer, Castillejo received his first world title try, when he challengedJulio César Vásquez ofArgentina, for Vazquez'sWBA light middleweight title, on 24 April 1993, also in Leganes. Vazquez outpointed him over 12 rounds, ending his 22 fight winning streak.

After defending his Mundo Hispano regional title with success in a rematch with Victor Hugo Sclarandi on 29 October of that year by a knockout in five rounds, Castillejo finally had his first fight abroad when he beat Bernard Razzano by a knockout in six rounds, atDijon, France, to conquer theEuropeanlight middleweight title. He defended the title successfully four times, then lost it, on 3 January 1995 to the then WBAlight middleweight championLaurent Boudouani, inÉpernay, France, by knockout in the ninth round.

His next fight was a victory by disqualification in six rounds on 14 July against Carlos Rocha Tovar inSeville. The victory against Tovar was followed by a rematch with Boudouani, who would once again defeat Castillejo, this time around by a twelve-round decision, atLevallois, 6 January 1996.

Castillejo then won six more fights in a row before fighting for a world title again. He regained the EBUlight middleweight title by knocking out the formerWBAwelterweight title challenger, Ahmed Dottuev, in round twelve atSuffolk, England, on 2 July 1998.

On 29 January 1999, Castillejo got his second chance at becoming a world champion. He outpointed Lineal andWBClight middleweight championKeith Mullings over twelve rounds to join a handful of world champions to come fromSpain.^[2] Despite some protests from Mullings' management team, the judges' decision remained, and Castillejo held the WBC title.

After five defenses, where Castillejo retained the title, a fight was set between him andOscar De La Hoya. It was Castillejo's first big time,Pay Per View event. Many fans, perhaps ignoring Castillejo's achievements in Europe and as defending world champion, regarded Castillejo as another stepping stone in De La Hoya's career. Castillejo commented to this regard, saying on a press conference before the fight, which was held inLas Vegas, that "(he) didn't come to Las Vegas to do tourism, but to defend (his) title". Castillejo lasted the twelve round distance with De La Hoya, but was sent to the canvas seconds before the fight ended, and lost a unanimous twelve-round decision and his world title, on 23 June 2001.

After six months, Castillejo returned to the boxing ring, beating the well regarded Xavier Moya by a knockout in five rounds, On 11 January 2002, to win the vacant European Community'sJunior Middleweight title, in Barcelona.

On 12 July 2002, he partially regained the WBClight middleweight title, when he beatRoman Karmazin by a twelve-round unanimous decision in Madrid, for the WBC's "Interim" title. This interim recognition was later retired from him, however, because he did not fight the WBC's recognized champion, which at the time wasShane Mosley, who had suffered an injury and was unable to box for the period being.

Castillejo then won four fights in a row, all by knockout.

He foughtFernando Vargas, in a fight that was supposed to be for the WBA's vacantlight middleweight title, on 20 August 2005, inChicago. It was decided ultimately to make the bout a ten-round affair instead of a world championship fight. Despite being dropped in round three, Castillejo was able to last ten rounds with fellow former worldlight middleweight champion Vargas, but he lost a ten-round decision to the Mexican-American.

On 15 July 2006, Castillejo sprang back on the boxing scene by defeating youngerFelix Sturm of Germany to seize the WBAmiddleweight belt in an exciting fight. Sturm, making his first title defense, was headed to a one-sided win until Castillejo (61–6, 41 knockouts) caught him with a left hook against the ropes with 13 seconds left in the 10th Round.

Castillejo, then hit Sturm (27–2, 11 knockouts) with three uppercuts before the referee called the fight, making Castillejo, 38 at the time of his upset victory, the oldest man to win a recognized version on the WorldMiddleweight Championship. He lost his title in his first defence against ArgentineMariano Natalio Carrera via a disputed 11th-round TKO. Later on, Carrera tested positive forClenbuterol and was suspended for 6 months by the WBA, thus Castillejo regained his title on 23 February.[1]. He lost the title 28 April 2007 in a rematch againstFelix Sturm.He foughtMariano Natalio Carrera again on 13 November 2007, this time winning by KO in the 6th round.

• List of light-middleweight boxing champions
• List of middleweight boxing champions
• List of WBA world champions
• List of WBC world champions
• List of European Boxing Union light-middleweight champions

• Boxing record for Javier Castillejo fromBoxRec(registration required)
• Javier Francisco Castillejo profile at Cyber Boxing Zone

• 1968 births
• Boxers from Madrid
• Living people
• World Boxing Association champions
• World middleweight boxing champions
• Spanish male boxers
• World light-middleweight boxing champions
• World Boxing Council champions
• European Boxing Union champions
• Welterweight boxers
• People from Parla
• Sportspeople from the Community of Madrid
• 20th-century Spanish sportsmen

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