Brian Castaño

Castaño made his professional debut in September 2012, months after his win over Derevianchenko. He beat Alejandro Antonio Dominguez with a round 4 technical knockout at Luna Park. Castaño won his first 8 fights, 7 by way of knockout, before being sidelined due to an arrhytmia which caused several medical complications.[3][4] After recovering, Castaño relocated to the United States.[5] Castaño maintained his winning streak, winning four fights over the course of a year while fighting out of the U.S.

In November 2016, Castaño fought Emmanuel de Jesús for the WBA interim super welterweight title. After knocking De Jesús down on round 1 with a flurry of punches, Castaño went down at the beginning of round 2, following a cross from De Jesús. Castaño survived the round and as the fight went on, De Jesús started slowing down. Castaño eventually won the fight with a body shot towards the end of round 6.[6]

Castaño stepped up against former world title challenger and long-time contender, Michel Soro. Castaño won a close fight by split decision (115–113, 115–113, 112–116). The judges seemed to prefer Castaño's activity and consistency over Soro's calculated pressure, who admitted he had started slow in a post-fight interview.[7] Two months after the fight, Castaño said that Soro's promoter, Univent, had yet to pay most of his purse.[8]

After Demetrius Andrade vacated his WBA (Regular) title, the WBA elevated Castaño to regular champion. Shortly thereafter, the WBA ordered a fight between Castaño and WBA (Super) champion, Erislandy Lara.[9] Castaño would first face Cedric Vitu on 10 March 2018. Castaño showcased his talent, and defeated Vitu via a 12th-round TKO, dominating him from start to finish to retain his WBA (Regular) title.[10]

On 2 March 2019, Castaño defended his title against former world champion Erislandy Lara. The fight ended in a split draw, one judge scoring it 115–113 for Castaño, one judge scoring it 115–113 for Lara while the third had it 114–114.[11][12]

On June 25, 2019, the WBA announced that they are stripping Castaño of his belt, because he did not sign the contract for a rematch against Cedric Vitu, his immediate mandatory challenger.[13]

In his next fight, Castaño faced veteran Wale Omotoso. The fight was a one-sided affair in favor of Castaño, up until the end of the fifth round, in which Omotoso declared a shoulder injury was too painful to proceed, awarding Castaño with the victory.[14]

On 13 February 2021, Castaño defeated WBO light middleweight champion Patrick Teixeira via wide unanimous decision with judges' scores of 119–109, 120–108 and 117–111 in his favor.[15]

Castaño faced unified light middleweight champion Jermell Charlo on 17 July 2021 in San Antonio, Texas in a showdown for the undisputed light middleweight championship. A competitive fight between them ended in a split draw, the second of Castaño's career, with scores of 117–111 Charlo, 114–113 Castaño and 114–114 even.[16] The result was controversial, with much attention being brought to judge Nelson Vazquez's 117–111 Charlo card, which was described as "terrible" by Andre Ward.[17] After the fight, an upset Castaño opined, "[Charlo] won the second, tenth and eleventh [rounds], that’s it... I don’t agree with [the result]. I felt I was robbed, and I demand a rematch."[18]

On November 27, 2021, it was revealed by ESPN that Castaño and Charlo had agreed to face each other in a rematch.[19] The fight was officially announced on February 8, 2022, and was supposed to take place on March 19.[20] Castaño was forced to withdraw on February 17 however, after suffering a slight biceps tear during training camp.[21] A day later, the WBO ordered Castaño to show cause as to why Charlo should't be rescheduled to make an overdue mandatory title defense against Tim Tszyu.[22] The fight was granted sanctioning approval by the WBO on May 3, under the condition that it takes place by May 14.[23] The bout was officially announced for May 14, 2022, and took place at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.[24] He lost by 10th-round knockout after being knocked down twice.[25] He was down on all three of the judges' scorecards at the time of the stoppage, with scores of 84–87, 83–88 and 82–89.[26]