Jorge Castro (boxer)

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Jorge Locomotora Castro

Jorge Fernando "Locomotora" Castro (Spanish: locomotive), (born August 18, 1967 in Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz province) is an Argentine boxer and former Middleweight champion of the world, but who will probably be remembered, more than anything, for what happened in his second defense of the title.

Castro, who in 1985 was set to become a professional boxer but suffered a bicycle accident that left him injured so badly that doctors told him he'd never be able to fight as a professional, recuperated from the accident and turned professional, defying the doctor's predictions, in 1987.

He became world champion in 1994 by beating defending champion Reggie Johnson in Buenos Aires. After defeating Alex Ramos by a knockout in two to retain the belt, he travelled to Monterrey, Mexico, to defend against former WBO and WBA world champion John David Jackson of Philadelphia. What began merely as an undercard world title fight in a Pay Per View program featuring Félix Trinidad versus Oba Carr and Julio Cesar Chavez versus Tony Lopez, soon became a fight that is part of boxing's lore. Castro was trailing badly on all three scorecards, with one eye closed and the other one only halfway opened, bleeding and taking combination after combination against the ropes, when the referee went in to stop the fight. The referee began to raise his hands signaling the fight stoppage, but before he could get in between the fighters and make it official, Castro landed a right hand to Jackson's chin and Jackson hit the floor, and instead of stopping the fight in Jackson's favor, the referee found himself counting at Jackson. Jackson got up, but he suffered one more knockdown and Castro completed what could be said that was one of the unlikeliest turnarounds ever in a boxing fight, retaining the title by a knockout in the ninth round.

At the press conference after the fight, Castro called his winning punch La mano de Dios, (The hand of God), in reference to the Hand of God goal by Diego Maradona during a win by Argentine national team at the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Therefore, that moment became known as boxing's version of The hand of God. The fight, and its ending, were talked about for months on many boxing magazines and books.

Castro defended his title twice more, including a rematch win over Johnson, and then he lost the title to Shinji Takejara by a decision in twelve. He split two 10 round decisions with Roberto Duran, winning the first in Argentina, but losing the rematch in Panama, and then he gave Jackson a rematch, this time winning by a decision in ten.

Castro, a good autograph signer, has lost two more world championship fights: on December of 2000, he went to Germany and lost by a knockout in 10 to the WBC's cruiserweight champion of the world Juan Carlos Gomez, and on February of 2002, he went to Phoenix and challenged IBF world Cruiserweight champion Vasiliy Jirov, a Kazakhstan native who lives in Phoenix, losing by a decision in twelve. Despite his failures in these attempts to become a world champion again, he has not announced a retirement.

On June 18, 2005, Jorge Castro suffered a motorcycle accident in Buenos Aires, with a collapsed lung and some broken ribs. The accident and its consequences were similar to the one suffered by archrival Duran in Buenos Aires a few years before. Castro required hospitalization and emergency surgery, and was in stable condition after the surgery. He recuperated from his injuries.

On April 22, 2006, Castro fought Jose Luis Herrera, losing by a fourth round knockout, and a riot was formed.

Currently, he has a record of 129 wins, 11 losses and 3 draws, with 89 knockout wins, which ranks him among the most prolific knockout winners in boxing history according to the records of Ring Magazine.