Weekend Wrap: Caballero Stops Robles

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The Golden Boy fights, at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California were supposed to be headlined by Frankie Gomez in his first major step up fight against aging veteran DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley. Gomez in the weeks leading up to the fight injured his knee while training for the bout. Gomez had to withdraw from the fight moving the Co-feature Bout between Randy Caballero vs. Miguel Robles to the main attraction on Fox Deportes.

The card was kicked off with a Heavyweight bout between Alex Rivera vs. C.J. Leveque both making their pro debuts. Rivera, the Coachella native had the local fan support. Rivera started off the bout using his jab and out working Leveque who was clearly looking for the big punch to end the fight early. Midway thru the first round Rivera knocked down the already tired Leveque. Leveque got back to his feet only to have Rivera come on strong to cause a stop to the fight. Just over a minute into the bout the referee stopped the action and Alex Rivera was awarded the TKO victory in his debut.  

Next up was a 6 round Middleweight fight between Angel Osuna (10-3-1 6KOs) vs Christian Nava (2-3-1).  The first round began with back and forth exchanges from the fighters. Nava seemed to have many countering opportunities which he took advantage of. Osuna came on strong and threw an uppercut that seemed to stagger Nava for a moment.  Osuna began the second round by walking Nava down using his height and reach to keep Nava tamed. Midway thru the round Osuna hit Nava knocking him back into the ropes. Moments later Osuna and Nava began going toe to toe. The exchange seemed to be too much for Nava, as he was hit with a left uppercut that sent him to the canvas, and Nava was counted out before even attempting to get to his feet.

Errol Spence Jr. (6-0 5KOs) vs. Eddie Cordova (8-2-1 3KOs) kicked off the Fox Deportes telecast and it was schedule as a 6 round Junior Middleweight bout. Cordova came out more active but it did not seem to concern Spence.  Towards the end of the first round Spence hit Cordova with a liver shot that sent him down. Cordova could not recover and was knocked out.

In the fourth bout of the night Featherweights Joseph Diaz Jr and Luis Cosme squared up.  Diaz came out showing good patience, picking and choosing when to fire. Diaz quickly picked up steam in the last half of the round. During an exchange Diaz hit Cosme with a left hook to the body that sent Cosme to the canvas and he was not able to make the count. 

In what was the fight of the night, Southern California Natives Eric Ituarte (5-0) and Humberto Zatarain (3-1-1) entered the ring. The first round was back and forth.  Zatarain seemed to thrown the clean, more effect punches. Ituarte came on late to close the round with good combination that seemed all but to ignore Zatarain’s body. Although Ituarte came on late in the round, it was Zatarain who took the first of the four rounds. Ituarte had Zatarain back peddling for most of the second round. Ituarte had good defense but could not seem to get away from Zatarain’s left hook. The second round ended as both fighters began to exchange. In the third round both fighters picked up the pace. Several times both fighters exchanged with fast combinations. Going into the final round the fight was even.  Both fighters came out aggressive as they had to know the fight could be judge either way. They stood toe to toe with the crowd cheering their efforts. Both fighters used combination punching and accuracy to attack their opposition. The fourth round ended with the crowd on their feet wishing there were more rounds. Without much protest from the fighters or the crowd the fight was scored 38-38, a draw.

In the headlining bout of the evening  Miguel Robles (12-2-2 5KOs) took on undefeated and pride of Coachella, Randy Caballero ( 18-0 10KOs ). Both fighters began the fight trying to get a feel for each other. In the 3rd round Caballero used his jab to set up his punches and started to pick up his pace. In the middle rounds Caballero was the more active fighter but Robles still managed to get in some good power shots. Caballero started to walk Robles down using his aggression and work rate to take the 6th round. In the seventh, with Robles looking fatigued, Caballero came out looking to end the fight. In the last part of the round just after a referee warned Robles for hitting low, Caballero hit Robles with a left hook to the body that sent Robles crashing to his knees. Robles was given the ten count but could not continue ending the bout.

The Fox Deportes fights at the Fantasy Springs Casino were action packed, full of excitement, and had good knockouts. Fans in the arena and at home were treated to a great night of boxing, provided by the youth and future of the sport.