My name is Esteban Corrales. I am the biological brother to the late, great, in my opinion, Diego "Chico" Corrales. I would like to put the truth out in the open in defense of my brother, who is no longer here to defend himself. I feel it is only right as he has stood up and defended me against the many bullies and fights that he felt I may not be able to win. To address this man, James A. Quawrells, who is seeking his 5 minutes of fame off of a successful someone he took no part in raising, seeing, or even having the privilege of meeting, is an absolutely disgusting act; even moreso to lie to the internet public and boxing community about him and your knowledge of the sport.
First and foremost, you learned of our existence at the same time as the rest of the world, when Diego fought on television and won his first world title. What you don't know is that after that fight, the man's shoulders he was hoisted up on as he raised his arms in, not just victory, but accomplishment, was his father, Ray Charles Woods, who was very much instrumental to the success of Diego "Chico" Corrales and myself. Diego never spoke to this man, James A. Quawrells.
It was 28 years of my life before I spoke to him. Two days after the passing of my brother, he sent me a message on Myspace.com. It was entitled "hey". I didn't know who this man was at first, and then, with my mom's help, we were able to identify this man who called himself Diego. I refused to have an e-mail conversation in place of 28 years of absenteeism. I left my phone number and told him if he wanted to talk to me, to be a man and call me. Not even an hour later, this man calls me and says that he is Diego. I swiftly told him his real name, James A. Quarwells, and proceeded in making him answer the questions that we, Diego and myself, deserved to know.
We knew nothing of this man, not where he was from, nor where he had been, nor why he had never attempted to contact us. I remember hearing his justifications for what he had done, even more importantly, what he had not done. I identified the lies and bullshit and proceeded to tell him exactly what those were; they were excuses. I then went on to tell him about the father that I had become and how nothing justifies not being a father to your children. I then asked him what he wanted and he couldn't answer me. He then sought sympathy in the form of tears. I clearly remember me telling him to dry it up and stop crying. If anyone deserves to cry, it's my mother and father, Ray Woods, who were making preparations to bury their son.
I asked him if he felt like he threw away a winning lottery ticket. He quickly said, "Yes." I, at that point, asked again assertively, "What do you want?" He asked if there was anything he could do to mend the abandoned relationship. I told him to go back to his hiding place and take the pictures of my brother off of his Myspace page and, "stop telling people you were his father because you're not." That distinct honor belongs to the man we gave hell to while raising us to be the men we are today. The final question i asked this man was how I sounded to him. He sobbingly told me I sounded like him all over again. I told him I was glad he got to hear it because he would never hear it again.
I heard nothing from this man or the Quawrells family until I seen a post on a Diego Corrales memorial page from an Ashley Quarwells on Facebook.com. I commented on it and tried to be as cordial as possible and contacted my mother shortly thereafter to express my disdain of what I had read. She contacted this person and asked that they leave us alone because of what we were going through. She agreed. This young lady proceeded to text, harass and badmouth my mother, the same woman who had bore the world one of their boxing greats. They went on to tell me I am not a Corrales and not related to them, just Diego. It has been made abundantly clear that the Quawrells family wants only to share in the fame that a could-have-been relative obtained.
I am a Corrales! Aside from our children, I am the ONLY true Corrales left related to Diego. I feel sorry for those people, as they have no accomplishments of their own, so they have to try to take what they can get from someone who should be resting in peace. Diego and myself came to the realization that we were all we had, as far as biologically, but we had a family, both immediate and extended, who always told us that the only steps in this house are on the front and back porch.
My little brother, Daryl Woods, who is equally hurt and upset with this disgusting behavior and feeble attempts to live unjustified fame, refused to comment on the matter, but has been my biggest supporter through the entire ordeal. I personally want to thank him for his support, as well as the Woods and Johnson family for allowing us to be part of your family, especially my Dad, coach and father extraordinaire, Ray Charles Woods. Thanks for the happy memories Ray. Thanks for making us the tough young men that grew into full-grown successful men that transcended the sport of boxing and maybe even the world. You're a real man's man and I model myself after you, just as your other son did, Diego "Chico" Corrales.
To the Quawrells family, this is no more than a simple request. If Diego meant anything to you, allow the Champ to finally rest in peace and allow us to continue to grieve in peace.
Thank you,
Esteban L. Corrales