Lenin Castillo was bemused by the announcement that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (53-6-1, 34 KOs) would return to the ring on July 20th at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas against UFC star, Darren Till. The six-rounder will mark Till’s professional debut.
The bout, such as it is, will be part of the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul event that will be distributed by Netflix.
Former WBA title challenger Lenin Castillo (24-5-1, 14 KOs) couldn’t help but shake his head when he heard the news.
Castillo won three fights after losing to Callum Smith on the Anthony Joshua-Oleksandr Usyk undercard in London back in 2021. In his most recent outing, however, the 35-year-old was outpointed by Albert Ramirez in September.
Regardless, he’s an established boxer – unlike Till.
“I can’t believe that Chavez is fighting a UFC fighter,” Castillo told BoxingScene.com. “I have been in the gym and I have been asking for that fight for a long time. I don’t care what weight Chavez wants to fight in. Whether it’s light heavyweight, cruiserweight or even heavyweight I will fight him. Whatever weight he’s comfortable at I don’t care.”
This will be Chavez’s first outing since he won a 10-round decision over David Zegarra in December 2021, a fight which came six months after the Mexican was stunned by Anderson Silva, another MMA specialist.
“I hope Chavez mans up and decides to take on a real challenge like me. If they are worried about Chavez or Till not stepping in the ring on fight night they should put me in the undercard so I can step in for either of them,” said Castillo.
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