Celestino Caballero


Celestino Caballero is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1998 to 2014. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Super) and IBF super bantamweight titles between 2006 and 2010, and the WBA (Regular) featherweight title from 2011 to 2012.
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Professional career

Caballero began boxing professionally in 1998. During the majority of his early career, Caballero won a number of minor regional championships: the Panamanian, WBA Fedecentro, WBA Fedelatin, WBO Latino, and NABA Super Bantamweight titles.
He had won the first four of his titles and had a record of 17-0 before losing by a third-round knockout to José Rojas on May 16, 2003.
Seven months later, Caballero won the vacant NABA title by defeating Giovanni Andrade. 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 February 17, 2005, Caballero fought the then unbeaten and would-be world champion Daniel Ponce de León in Hollywood, California. Caballero, who was a heavy underdog, won the bout by unanimous decision.
On October 15, 2005, Caballero defeated Yober Ortega by unanimous decision for the WBA Super Bantamweight interim championship. He defended the title on February 4, 2006 against Roberto Bonilla. After knocking down Bonilla in the third and fifth rounds, Caballero won via TKO in the seventh.

WBA super bantamweight champion

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 MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on the opening bout of the HBO Televised undercard of Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Michael Katsidis on November 27. Cabellero subsequently, lost that fight via unanimous decision.
Celestino Caballero has dropped from Junior Lightweight to Featherweight 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 Featherweight eliminator ordered by the World Boxing Council between Caballero and the Romanian Viorel Simion, with the winner landing a shot at current champion Daniel Ponce de León, should have taken place on a date in spring 2013. The fight did not happen, however.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
43Loss37–6Adrian EstrellaUD12Oct 4, 2014Centro de Usos Múltiples, Los Mochis, MexicoFor WBC FECARBOX super featherweight title
42Win37–5Jimmy AburtoTKO2, 1:41Nov 30, 2013Arena Panama Al Brown, Colón, PanamaWon vacant WBC Latino featherweight title
41Loss36–5Robinson CastellanosSD12Apr 20, 2013Roberto Durán Arena, Panama City, PanamaFor WBC Silver featherweight title
40Win36–4Satoshi HosonoUD12Dec 31, 2011Cultural Gymnasium, Yokohama, JapanRetained WBA featherweight title
39Win35–4Jonathan Victor BarrosUD12Oct 14, 2011Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaWon WBA featherweight title
38Loss34–4Jonathan Victor BarrosSD12Jun 18, 2011Polideportivo La Colonia, Junín, ArgentinaFor WBA (Regular) featherweight title
37Loss34–3Jason LitzauSD10Nov 27, 2010MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
36Win34–2Daud YordanUD12Apr 10, 2010BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Florida, U.S.
35Win33–2Francisco LealRTD7, 3:00Aug 29, 2009Ciudad Deportiva, Mexicali, MexicoRetained WBA and IBF super bantamweight titles
34Win32–2Jeffrey Mathebula12Apr 30, 2009Roberto Durán Arena, Panama City, PanamaRetained WBA and IBF super bantamweight titles
33Win31–2Steve MolitorTKO4, 0:52Nov 21, 2008Casino, Rama, Ontario, CanadaRetained WBA (Unified) super bantamweight title;
Won IBF super bantamweight title
32Win30–2Elvis MejiaTKO1, 2:51Sep 18, 2008Figali Convention Center, Panama City, PanamaRetained WBA super bantamweight title
31Win29–2Lorenzo ParraRTD11, 3:00Jun 7, 2008Centro Olimpico, San Juan de los Morros, VenezuelaRetained WBA super bantamweight title
30Win28–2Mauricio PastranaTKO8, 0:53Dec 1, 2007Roberto Durán Arena, Panama City, PanamaRetained WBA super bantamweight title
29Win27–2Jorge LaciervaUD12Aug 4, 2007Dodge Arena, Hidalgo, Texas, U.S.Retained WBA super bantamweight title
28Win26–2Ricardo CastilloDQ9, 2:02Mar 16, 2007Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, Florida, U.S.Retained WBA super bantamweight title;
Castillo disqualified after his corner entered ring
27Win25–2Somsak SithchatchawalTKO3, 1:48Oct 4, 2006Wat, Ban Rai, ThailandWon WBA super bantamweight title
26Win24–2Roberto BonillaTKO7 Feb 4, 2006Figali Convention Center, Panama City, PanamaRetained WBA interim super bantamweight title
25Win23–2Yober OrtegaUD12Oct 15, 2005Figali Convention Center, Panama City, PanamaWon vacant WBA interim super bantamweight title
24Win22–2José Luis ValbuenaTKO5, 3:08May 5, 2005Desert Diamond Casino, Tucson, Arizona, U.S.
23Win21–2Daniel Ponce de LeónUD12Feb 17, 2005Avalon Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
22Win20–2Victor PeraltaTKO5 Oct 15, 2004Coliseo Bernardo Caraballo, Cartagena, Colombia
21Loss19–2Ricardo CordobaUD12May 25, 2004Atlapa Convention Centre, Panama City, PanamaLost WBA–NABA and Panamanian super bantamweight titles
20Win19–1Giovanni Andrade10 Dec 5, 2003Seminole Casino, Coconut Creek, Florida, U.S.Won vacant WBA–NABA super bantamweight title
19Win18–1Arcelio IbarraTKO3, 2:18Sep 20, 2003Jardín Nuevas Glorias Soberanas, Panama City, Panama
18Loss17–1Jose RojasKO3, 2:59May 16, 2003Roberto Durán Arena, Panama City, PanamaLost WBA Fedelatin super bantamweight title
17Win17–0Leonardo GonzalezTKO2, 0:57Feb 15, 2003Roberto Durán Arena, Panama City, PanamaRetained WBA Fedelatin and WBO Latino super bantamweight titles
16Win16–0Jorge MonsalvoTKO4 Oct 31, 2002Atlapa Convention Centre, Panama City, PanamaWon vacant WBO Latino super bantamweight title
15Win15–0Angel ValenciaKO3, 1:45Sep 21, 2002Arena Panama Al Brown, Colón, PanamaRetained Panamanian super bantamweight title;
Won vacant WBA Fedelatin super bantamweight title
14Win14–0Andres CiriacoUD8Jun 14, 2002Arena Panama Al Brown, Colón, Panama
13Win13–0Marcos VerbelKO3, 2:47Nov 30, 2001Riande Continental Hotel Bella Vista, Panama City, PanamaWon vacant WBA Fedecentro super bantamweight title
12Win12–0Euclides EspitiaKO4, 2:14Oct 5, 2001Roberto Durán Arena, Panama City, Panama
11Win11–0Armando RojasTKO7 Aug 18, 2001Arena Panama Al Brown, Colón, PanamaRetained Panamanian super bantamweight title;
Won vacant WBA Fedecentro super bantamweight title
10Win10–0Santos MarimonKO6, 0:32Mar 17, 2001Arena Panama Al Brown, Colón, Panama
9Win9–0Antonio JaramilloTKO2, 1:39Feb 3, 2001Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, Panama
8Win8–0Armando CordobaUD12Jun 16, 2000Gimnasio Nuevo Panama, Panama City, PanamaWon Panamanian super bantamweight title
7Win7–0Arquimedes GonzalezKO4, 1:48Apr 29, 2000Gimnasio, Puerto Pilón, Panama
6Win6–0Raul AlonsoRTD5, 3:00Mar 31, 2000Jardin "El Rancho", Panama City, Panama
5Win5–0Henry FrancisUD6Feb 16, 2000Magnum Eventus, Panama City, Panama
4Win4–0Garibaldo Morris1, 3:00Mar 3, 1999Discoteca Congo, Panama City, Panama
3Win3–0Leopoldo Arrocha3, 2:39Jan 20, 1999Discoteca Congo, Panama City, Panama
2Win2–0Arquimedes Gonzalez3, 3:00Dec 2, 1998Discoteca Congo, Panama City, Panama
1Win1–0Victor Perez4Nov 18, 1998Discoteca Congo, Panama City, Panama