De La Hoya Coasts Past Caballero

De La Hoya Coasts Past Caballero

By Marc Livitz in Las Vegas, Nevada:Diego De la Hoya didn’t need to ride the name of his famous uncle to get through Randy Caballero this evening in the second contest of Saturday’s slate of fights at T-Mobile Arena. The undefeated prospect from Mexicali moved nicely and negated the offense of his opponent from Coachella, California, who himself was dealt his first loss as a professional as he lost his NABF Super Bantamweight title.

The two fighters exchanged no pleasantries and went directly at each other from the opening bell. Of the two early on, De La Hoya (20-0, 9 KO’s) landed the cleaner shots, most notably a widely fired left hook which easily found Caballero’s chin. They fought close in during the opening half of round two, though a head clash in the last forty seconds slowed the action for just a moment. De La Hoya connected with a quick right hook to the head just before the bell. Diego remained the quicker of the two throughout the third and one round later, they looked to move in closer in the hopes of landing a difference maker.

Back and forth action ensued as the fifth was underway. In the final minute, De La Hoya’s head slammed once again into Caballero’s, which caused Randy to briefly drop his guard. Diego put his combinations together nicely in round six and he continued to move around

the ring with relative ease. The close quarter fighting continued as the seventh commenced. Randy did his best to replicate the efforts of his Mexicali opponent, but his shots just didn’t have the same mustard on them. Caballero’s (24-1, 14 KO’s) try at landing a three punch assault resulted in return fire in the form of a well placed left hook to the chin.

A noticeable mouse was under Randy’s right eye was getting bigger as the contest moved to its last two rounds. Perhaps sensing the urgency, Caballero tried to push the action in the ninth, though De La Hoya would simply move away or look to clinch. Diego turned on the heat in the dying seconds. He found "El Matador" down low as Randy was slightly bent over. His face was looking quite red and swollen, although he was able to catch Diego with successive right hooks just before the closing bell. This one appeared to be a wash.

Robert Hoyle: 100-90

Eric Cheek: 98-92

Patricia Morse Jarman: 98-91

Boxing Writer/Columnist

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