Should Jose Luis Castillo (left) retire, he'll always be remembered for his war with Diego Corrales. (via newsimg.bbc.co.uk)

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From a competitive standpoint, it's probably overdue. But we all know/knew that from a financial standpoint, he had to fight on.

Jose Luis Castillo, though, may be serious about retirement right now, as he told ESTO (via BoxingScene.com). The 35-year old "welterweight" has been turning down fight offers and mulling a permanent leave of the sport, with a decision likely to come in the next couple of weeks. He also hints that should he return, it would be to fight for a title at 135 or 140 pounds, though I'm not sure how he plans to make weight for either since he's failed to do so in recent years and has been chased up to 147 pounds, where he simply is not big enough to compete with the top fighters.

Now 35, his career record stands at 57-9-1 with 49 knockouts. He scored the 2000 Ring Magazine Upset of the Year when he beat Stevie Johnston, and the two drew in a rematch. He notably defended his WBC lightweight title against Cesar Bazan (and not so notably against Sung-Ho Yuh) before losing it close on points to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2002. Mayweather beat Castillo again in December of that year.

He then embarked on a six-fight win streak that included victories over Juan Lazcano, Joel Casamayor and Julio Diaz before meeting with Corrales in their epic encounter on May 7, 2005. Overweight for their rematch, Castillo knocked out Corrales in four the second time around. In the highly-anticipated rubber match, Castillo failed to make weight again, and Corrales refused to fight him.

He did do some good things after that, though his failure to make weight for a Corrales trilogy really soured his career to be sure. He beat Rolando Reyes and Herman Ngoudjo at junior welterweight, but was stopped by champion Ricky Hatton in a one-sided, four-round affair that ended on a body shot. He failed again to make weight, this time against Timothy Bradley early in 2008 at 140 pounds, and moved up to 147 to meet Sebastian Lujan on Friday Night Fights in July, where he lost a wide decision.

Castillo last fought in January, stopping James Wayka in the second round.

He's apparently gotten his finances at least somewhat straightened out outside of the ring, which is great to hear. As much as his inability to make weight was an unprofessional act and angered me as a fan on more than one occasion, I always liked Castillo, which is part of why it was so bothersome. He was a tough, tough fighter, a few hairs below having Hall of Fame talent. He fought many of his generation's best and did OK for himself against those opponents, only once (against Hatton) getting outclassed.

I hope he can retire -- I'm not saying I hope he does, I'm saying I hope he can. Castillo has fought on because he's had to. If that's not a problem for him anymore, it'd be great to see him put a memorable career into his past and move on. He surely could use the break from getting his body beaten up.