Columnist Dean Juipe: Lazcano hopes Goossen’s focus will pay off

Dean Juipe

Thursday, June 3, 2004 | 9:33 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Trained by Freddie Roach through the bulk of his career, Juan Lazcano reaches the biggest fight of his life with a new man in his corner. And Joe Goossen is there because he can give Lazcano his undivided attention.

"No disrespect to Freddie, because he's a great trainer," Goossen said Wednesday, "but a top guy can only handle three or four fighters at a time and Freddie's got a lot of fighters.

"I think that's one reason Juan was inspired to do what he did. He knows this is an opportunity to elevate his stature and he wanted to squeeze in a little more work and squeeze in a little more attention than he might have gotten otherwise."

Lazcano will take those added influences into the ring with him when he faces Jose Luis Castillo with the vacant World Boxing Council lightweight title at stake Saturday at the MGM. Their fight will open the pay-per-view telecast of a card that also includes Bernard Hopkins and Oscar De La Hoya in separate events.

"These are the two best lightweights in the world," promoter Bob Arum proclaimed of Lazcano and Castillo. "Their fight will be a barn burner."

The fighters agree.

"It's going to be two guys going forward," Castillo said through an interpreter. "It's going to be two Mexicans going at it."

Castillo, 30, is 49-6-1 and is a former WBC champion at 135 pounds.

Lazcano, 29, is 33-2-1 and a slight betting favorite at a minus 130; Castillo is even.

"I know Castillo is tough and he's been there and he comes to fight like a gallant Mexican," Lazcano said. "But I'm the better athlete. I'm the better fighter."

Lazcano positioned himself for the title fight by stopping ex-champ Stevie Johnston in 11 rounds last September in Las Vegas. That victory was his 19th in a row, or since losing to Golden Johnson six years ago here.

"Juan's come a long way," Goossen said. "He looked incredible against Johnston and that's a fight he might not have won two or three years earlier.

"He's learned the trade over the years."

Castillo has as well, having rebounded from a pair of losses to future champion Javier Jauregui and two more against Floyd Mayweather Jr. with the WBC title on the line.

"I think our fight will be the best fight of the night," he said of taking on Lazcano on a big-money card. "But it's only going to go five rounds. It's going to end early."

"What I think we're seeing is a lot of guys coming to the realization that they need to step up and fight a live body," said trainer Joe Goossen, who handles Corrales. "They see the finances in the game and they know the only way to really make it is by fighting guys who are their equal."

Goossen said he would open training camp with Corrales on Monday and that Corrales' first fight as a lightweight should work to his benefit. "He's certainly got the frame to handle the extra five pounds," Goossen said.