Boxing News Boxing News
The BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, FL saw a good card of fights last night as Andre Berto continued to cement his hold on the WBC welter title while WBA/IBF super bantam champ Celestino Caballero successfully moved up to featherweight.
Berto faced former WBO titlist Carlos Quintana and initially had difficulty with the experienced veteran, getting caught with a few good shots from the Puerto Rican southpaw.
But Berto’s pure quickness began to play a role in the bout by the middle rounds as he began to beat the challenger to the punch. A frustrated Quintana lost a point for rabbit punching, only deepening the lead of Berto.
By the eighth it was all Berto as the champion hammered Quintana with both hands, forcing a stoppage at 2:16 of the round.
Berto improves to 26-0 (20), retaining the WBC title for the fourth time. Quintana falls to 27-3 (21) and is now 2-2 over his last four contests.
Caballero won the Interim WBA featherweight title with an impressive performance against undefeated opponent Daud Cino Yordan.
Yordan’s inexperience against top level competition couldn’t make up for his strength advantage as the Indonesian couldn’t get into gear against the much taller Caballero.
It was target practice for Caballero, who dropped Yordan in the second but couldn’t finish off his rival. Instead, Caballero picked apart the younger man for the balance of the fight, winning a wide 120-107, 199-108 and 119-108 unanimous decision on the scorecards.
As Interim WBA beltholder at 126 pounds, Caballero could be in line to meet either Yordan’s fellow Indonesian Chris John or Cuban sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa, both undefeated and both recognized as “champions” by the WBA.
