In mid-July, WBO junior middleweight titlist Brian Castaño fought the fight of his life against Ring, IBF, WBA and WBC beltholder Jermell Charlo, but had to settle for a draw in his pursuit of becoming the undisputed champion.

Looking back at the fight, Castaño, who is rated No. 1 by The Ring at 154 pounds, feels he should have been awarded the decision.

“I’ve watched it a couple of times and I’m still convinced I won that fight,” Castaño told The Ring through his manager, Sebastian Contursi. “I put the pressure (on him) for almost (all) of the bout and landed many punches. He rocked me in the second and 10th and I rocked him in the third.

“(It was a) great fight against a great fighter like Charlo. But I’m frustrated, because I feel they took away from me the chance of making history by becoming the undisputed champion.”

Unsurprisingly, Contursi also believes his client deserved to win the fight.

“It was a terrific fight. I had Castaño winning, 7-5 or 8-4 in rounds, 115-113 or 116-112 on the cards, no doubt Brian should’ve been declared the winner,” said the manager. “All judges gave Charlo the last three rounds, for instance. I think the last one was Brian’s.”

While most believe the fight to have been very close, one scorecard was particularly perplexing to Castaño.

“The 117-111 scorecard was just a joke,” said the 31-year-old Argentinean, who claimed the WBO title in February with a wide-unanimous decision over Patrick Teixeira. “(I) don’t understand what in the world that judge was watching.”

Castaño (17-0-2, 12 knockouts) entered Charlo’s home state, the oft-criticized Texas. He’s not so sure he wants to go back. If there is a rematch, Castaño offers alternatives.

“At this time, I’d rather fight him in Las Vegas or Los Angeles, for instance,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be fairer, after what happened in Texas?”

However, he once again asserts he wants to face Charlo next.

“I need that direct rematch for the four belts,” he said vehemently. “And it seems it’s not only me but everybody wants to see that next.”

Contursi says three of the four sanctioning bodies are on board and are waiting to hear from the fourth.

“We’ll leave that in (promoter) Tom Brown’s and (manager) Al Haymon’s hands,” he said of a potential rematch. “But it’s obvious that Brian deserves a direct rematch, so I hope the IBF mandatory situation can be resolved by them in the next few weeks.”

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter@AnsonWainwright

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