Fondly remembered as one of the country's most resilient and beloved sports icons, his resume spoke volumes.

Terry Norris, Reggie Johnson and Roy Jones Jr. are just three names he boxed during the prime stages of a grueling 20-year career.

Yet he's best remembered for a stunning come-from-behind knockout of John David Jackson in December 1994, later voted Ring Magazine's "Fight of the Year".

Castro suffered a fatal heart attack at a bingo hall on Morón, just outside Buenos Aires.

Castro was born in Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz Province on August 18, 1967. He began his professional career at home in February 1987. In the early portion as a pro, he won national and continental junior middleweight titles.

"Locomotora" had over 70 fights before his first world title fight, venturing to France where he dropped a 12-round unanimous decision against WBC 154-pound champion Norris. The following year, he headed for Pensacola, Florida and lost a 10-round decision to rising superstar Jones Jr. Despite the loss, it furthered his international reputation.

He was back in the win column among home comforts and reached 100 fights aged 26, when his promoter Osvaldo Rivero teamed up with Don King in bringing Johnson to Argentina for a vacant WBA title bout.

Castro prevailed with a hard-fought 12-round split decision.

"Jorge Castro was 94-4-2 during our first fight in his backyard," remarked Johnson. "That's 100 pro fights and he had not been stopped in his losses, which speaks volumes for his concrete chin."

Castro went on to make four successful title defenses, including the stunning Johnson knockout and another split decision nod over Johnson in their 1995 rematch.

“He took a lot of punishment long before he fought me," Jackson said of his loss from their October 1995 duel.

"He had a tremendous chin. Believe it or not, I hurt him with a lot of good shots. I thought I was going to get him, be the first to stop him, but I take my hat off to him."

Castro would lose in his next outing two months later, being widely outpointed by unbeaten contender Shinji Takehara in Japan.

Although he never won another world title, he fought on for more than a decade. He split a pair of 1997 fights with Roberto Duran and fell short in two cruiserweight opportunities against Juan Carlos Gomez in December 2000 and IBF ruler Vasiliy Jirov in February 2002.

"He made a lot of mess in our fight that seemed very complicated to me," Gomez said. "Thanks to my team, they realized and told me not to let myself be fooled by attempts to make me tired, dizzy and confuse like he did with John David Jackson."

"Jorge Castro had a good chin; very tough and he was always attacking," Jirov said when asked about his former title challenger.

Three-time junior welterweight champion Juan Coggi counted Castro as a friend and said:

"Jorge Castro was a great friend and gym partner. We were different when it came to training and being a professional, he was a very talented rebel that could treat himself to getting into the ring without training and win. He will be missed throughout Argentine society, not only by his friends but the people who received a lot of social help from him. It's really a big loss for everyone."

Former WBC cruiserweight champion Marcelo Dominguez:

"I was his sparring partner for a long time at the beginning of my career. Then as the years went by, we always helped one another until the end of our careers. Jorge was never an orthodox or stylist boxer, but an instinctive, purebred fighter. Tough and with tremendous finishing power, he was very charismatic both in and outside the ring."

Castro retired with a record of 130-11-3, 90 KOs. The teak-tough character was only stopped twice during his career, by Gomez and Jose Luis Herrera, who he'd beat in his 2007 retirement fight.

The fallen warrior is survived by his partner, 15 children and 14 grandchildren.