HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- Panama's Celestino Caballero successfully
defended his WBA super-bantamweight title Friday night, stopping
Mexico's Ricardo Castillo in the ninth round.
Caballero gradually wore down Castillo throughout the first
eight rounds of the bout at Hard Rock Live Arena with a combination
of boxing and punching power. Midway through the ninth, Caballero
landed a flush right to Castillo's head. Castillo spit out his
mouthpiece and retreated from Caballero.
Castillo's brother, Jose Luis, a former lightweight champion who
worked the corner Friday, stepped up on the ring apron and
instructed referee Telis Assimenios to stop the fight at 2:02 of
the round.
"I noticed a pained look in him when hit him the last time,"
Caballero said. "As the rounds went on, I felt more aggressive."
The 5-foot-11 Caballero, who made the first defense of his
122-pound title he won last October, established a lead left jab in
the first round as Castillo sought to cut ring distance from the
opening seconds of the bout.
In the second, Caballero (26-2, 19 KOs) stepped up the pace and
scored with the jab but also connected with right uppercuts and
straight rights to Castillo's head.
Early in the third, Castillo (27-4) was warned by Assimenios for
hitting below the belt. Caballero scored with rights to the head
and in his attempt to keep the fight at short range, Castillo threw
another punch below the waistline, forcing Assimenios to deduct a
point.
Castillo was the busier fighter in the fourth, when he pressured
Caballero most of the round with short rights to the head.
Caballero re-established the lead jab in a productive fifth
round and also connected with left hooks to the head. After
Castillo missed with a right, Caballero also landed one of the
round's most telling shots, a counter left hook to Castillo's head.
Caballero continued to dominate the middle rounds, landing
rights to the body, left-right combinations to the head and left
hooks to the head. In addition, Caballero never abandoned the jab
and even punctuated his dominating performance, scoring four
successive jabs in the seventh round.
Caballero weighed in at 122 pounds, while Castillo was at 121.