Boxing Result: Caballero Stops Leal, Retains IBF, WBA Crowns

At The Arena in Mexicali, Mexico last night, Celestino Caballero took out local borderlands man Francisco Leal in the eighth round of their IBF/WBA super bantam title fight.

Mexicali grafter Leal was the very picture of a Cinderella story going into his first title challenge as the four year pro hadn’t come anywhere close to world class prior to this surprising opportunity.

Still, Leal had proven his meddle on the highly competitive Mexican scene since a young age and could count on the Mexicali crowd to cheer him on once the bell rang.

That certainly did happen and the vociferous audience support probably helped Leal survive as long as he did against towering 5’11 tall double champion Caballero.

Going into this bout, Caballero had a lot to prove as the Panamanian hadn’t exactly looked his best in his last title defense when he barely scraped by with a split decision victory over Jeffrey Mathebula in April.

Since Caballero won the WBA crown in 2006, only Mathebula and Jorge Lacierva had managed to go the distance with “Pelenchin” and it was a testament to Leal’s toughness and heart that he managed to make it to 0:10 of eighth round against one of the top super bantams in the world.

On the undercard, Ana Marie Torres, 19-3-2 (11), of Mexico City retained her WBC Female super bantam belt for the second time with a 99-91, 97-94 and 96-94 points verdict against American tourist Ava Knight, 5-1-2 (2), after ten rounds.