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Caballero Makes First Title
Defense Friday Night
By Barbara Pinnella
Randy Caballero (12-0, 17 KOs) attempts to keep his
undefeated record intact when he has his first fight as the
WBC Youth Intercontinental super bantamweight champion. His
opponent will be Arturo Santiago (7-3-1, 4 KOs).
Caballero was supposed to have a fight some time ago, under
the Hopkins card but he has not fought in five months. “My
shoulders were just dying out on me,” he told me. “I
wouldn’t have performed in my normal way, so I just stepped
out. I wasn’t going to risk my health stepping into that
ring. My dad always told me to never get into the ring if I
wasn’t feeling 110%.
“It was just at the end,” he continued. “That was like two
weeks before the fight they just started failing me. There
was no way I was going to mess up the training camp. It was
disappointing. That was a big step, and it was a big card
that I was hoping I got on, and I was ready for that, but
it’s fine. You get those little downfalls in this sport, but
you keep going forward. I keep my head up and keep going.”
No surgery was needed to fix those shoulders. “I just let
them rest. They were just getting heavy on me. They were
just dying out on me, and getting tired really fast – both
of them. It was strange.”
But it’s all go again. Randy has been back in serious
training for a little more than a month now, and ready for
Santiago. He knows a little bit about him. “He’s from Puerto
Rico; tough kid. I saw a couple of his fights on YouTube.
He’s really tough, he comes forward. He’s a little wild, but
those are the dangerous fighters. They come out wild and
land that lucky punch that could change the outcome of the
fight.
“But I’ve been training smart. I’ve been sparring with guys
that are a little more wild, tough guys that come forward
trying to put pressure, so I feel well-prepared for this
fight, and I feel good.”
The fact that this is Caballero’s first title defense makes
him all the more determined. “I just got that belt. There is
no way I can let it go!”
It is of course too early to make a lot of plans for next
year. He is remember, only 21 years old. But he is not
worried about a thing.
“I know I have a great team on my side, and I know they are
going to take care of me and take me far. Whatever they put
in front of me, I’m ready for anything. I’m never gonna back
down and I’m gonna keep going. As for next year, whatever
they have planned, whether it’s a title later on in that
year, then it’s fine. I’m not in any rush.”
If you look at Randy’s record you will see that he regularly
fights often, with many fights a year. He loves it like
that, and is not ready to slow that down.
“I love the way my career’s moving, I don’t believe I’m
moving too fast. I always loved to get in that ring, the
feeling I get when I’m in that ring, I can’t explain the way
it is, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I can fight
as many times as they want me to. But in time a fighter will
not know it, your body’s just dying out inside and there’s
always that time when you have to let it rest. My body has
recovered a lot from that rest that I just had. I feel
stronger, wiser, a different fighter, I’m learning more than
before.”
He plans to stay around this weight class right now, hoping
to get a title at 118 and then move up from there. “I have
no problem making weight, I feel good and strong at the
weight I’m fighting.”
I guess it is safe to say that Randy is still excited about
his chosen profession. I have probably watched him fight
more than I have seen anybody else, and it is really fun to
see him mature as a fighter. With that change, he has
remained humble – and still a really nice guy all the time.
I wish him the best of luck this coming Friday.
Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza
Barb.
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