Celestino Caballero is a Panamanian former professional boxer who held the unified IBF and WBA super bantamweight titles, as well as the WBA featherweight title.
Career
Outside of boxing, Caballero is also a reggae singer. Caballero had 16 fights as an amateur boxer, in which he started boxing the age of 16. Caballero then began boxing professionally in 1998.
The fight, which was held in Coconut Creek, Florida, was Caballero"s first one outside of Panama.
In his next fight, back in Panama, Caballero was knocked down in the tenth round and lost the title by unanimous decision to Ricardo Cordoba on May 25, 2004. On October 15, 2005, Caballero defeated Yober Ortega by unanimous decision for the WBA Super Bantamweight interim championship.
Achievements
Caballero fought against WBA world Super Bantamweight champion Somsak Sithchatchawal in Sithchatchawal"s native country of Thailand on October 4, 2006 in order to win the real WBA title. He won by TKO by knocking Sithchatchawal down three times in the third round—causing the referee to stop the bout. Caballero has defended the title five times with the last one being that he knocked out Elvis Meija in one round.
On November 21, 2008, Caballero knocked out the unbeaten IBF Super Bantamweight champion Steve Molitor in the 4th round at the Casino Rama, Ontario.
With the victory, he added the IBF title with his WBA crown.
Caballero won his first defense on both titles with a split decision win over Jeffery Mathebula on April 30, 2009. He defended the titles for second time on August 29 in the same year against Francisco Leal who conceded in the 8th round.
Caballero was stripped of his IBF title on February 5, 2010 for failing to have a defense against Takalani Ndlovu, his mandatory challenger in that sanctioning body, in a timely manner.
On April 10, 2010, Caballero defeated Daud Yordan. After that fight Celestino expressed his high interest in fighting Cuban Gold Medalist Yuriorkis Gamboa but that fight failed to come off being unsuccessful in securing a fight at Featherweight.
Celestino was able to schedule a fight with Junior Lightweight Jason Litzau at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on the opening bout of the Home Box Office Televised undercard of Juan Manuel Marquez versus
Michael Katsidis on November 27. Subsequently, lost that fight via unanimous decision.
Celestino Caballero has dropped from Junior Lightweight to Featherwight division for a career-high against Jonathan Victor Barros, champion in property of the WBA version of this division, which fight is dated for June 18, 2011 and to take place at Mendoza, Argentina.
The WBC final Featherwight eliminator ordered by the World Boxing Council between Caballero and the Romanian Viorel Simion (16-0, 7KOs), with the winner landing a shot at current champion Daniel Ponce de León, will take place on a date in spring 2013.
Views
He defended the title on February 4, 2006 against Roberto Bonilla. Caballero has defended the title five times with the last one being that he knocked out Elvis Meija in one round. He defended the titles for second time on August 29 in the same year against Francisco Leal who conceded in the 8th round.
