Jeff began working with interim WBA super featherweight champion Celestino Caballero near the end of last year but unfortunately the two men haven’t been able to lure the ideal opponents into the ring that they would like. Caballero has been itching to fight either WBO champion Juan Manuel Lopez or WBA boss Yuriorkis Gamboa for years but he may just have to wait things out, as Top Rank seems set on matching the two champions against one another. Caballero is poised for an HBO showcase against Jason Litzau next month at the MGM Grand, a bout in which he had to move up to the junior lightweight division simply because no other available opportunities were within reach.
I recently talked to Jeff about Caballero’s return to Las Vegas and a slew of other topics. Continue below to read what the modest trainer had to say about next month’s Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito clash, his recent conversations with his nephew Floyd and his take on such fighters as Andre Berto, Paul Williams, Miguel Cotto and others…
Celestino Caballero’s return and his November 27th fight with Jason Litzau…
“I’ve been waiting for him to get back. It’s good to have him back. First of all, I take my hat off to [Litzau] because he stepped up when no one else would. It’s unfortunate that Celestino has to fight outside of his weight class because all of the guys that are there, no one wants to fight him. That in itself speaks volumes of Celestino. I think he’s probably one of the most feared fighters in boxing right now. We have to just keep hoping that something will happen. I think that once the fight with Lopez and Gamboa is over, there is only one person out there to dance with that makes and sense or any money in that division, and that’s Celestino. Even if Bob [Arum] might not want to make the fight, it’s not like Lopez or Gamboa is Manny Pacquiao. They need someone else to dance with. And Celestino would be that option. To prove you are the best in the division you have to go through him.”
Working with middleweight prospect Brandon Gonzales…
“I always look forward to working with Brandon. He’s a very, very solid fighter and I think the sky is the limit for him. I think that also, I would think sometime next year, as long as he keeps busy, he will be ready to challenge for the middleweight championship. I think he’s that good.”
Keeping tabs with Floyd Jr….
“That last time we talked basically was just a matter of me passing him a number of some very powerful attorneys to help him out with his situation. That’s about the last time I’ve seen him. Basically it’s kind of hard to read but at the same time he’s still just being himself. It’s a situation where once you get involved in something like that you just have to wait it out and see what happens.”
Thoughts on Sergio Martinez-Paul Williams II…
“I think it’s going to be a very, very good fight. In my honest opinion I thought Sergio Martinez won the first fight. I don’t see Paul Williams doing anything a whole lot different. I cant’ say he can’t make any adjustments, because he did that before with [Carlos] Quintana. He made the right adjustments then. I think that if he boxes like a tall man should then he could win the fight fairly easy. Sergio Martinez is not the greatest defensive fighter, even though he likes to keep his hands down and play mind games. He’s not the greatest defense fighter. He can be hit. It’s a matter of Paul Williams fighting not fighting like a guy who is just in there throwing punches and not caring about what comes back at him. I think it’s going to be a very interesting fight and a very entertaining fight. It’s kind of a toss up but I lean towards Sergio Martinez.”
Favoring Pacquiao over Margarito…
“I don’t see that fight being that interesting. I think Margarito is very overrated and to be honest, who knows how well he really is without these hand wraps. Because that’s the biggest issue when you speak of Margarito. You got to speak of the hand wraps because he got busted. Who is to say that he hasn’t done that prior to the fight he was busted? He’s very slow, very methodical and like I said, no one knows if he is that big of a puncher anyways. I see it being a fairly easy fight. I see Pacquiao being able to get in, get out and get his punches off. Neither one of them has defense and that makes it easier for Pacquiao. He’s easier to hit for Pacquiao and Pacquiao is much faster. I think that’s it’s going to be very lopsided fight.”
Bernard Hopkins’ chances against Jean Pascal…
“I think he will make a good account of himself but I don’t see him winning. I think that Pascal is a guy who is kind of fearless. I think that is what really took the fight from Chad Dawson. He just jumped on him. Kind of like what happened with Danny Jacobs. He wasn’t ready for that guy to just come out there and say ‘You want to fight? Let’s do it.’ I think that’s what happened with Chad and he was never able to regain his composure and take over the fight. I think Bernard is a very smart fighter and he’s going to make the fight a chess match but I think the one thing about this fight that’s going to make it different than all the other fights is that this guy is willing to take chances. He’s going to try to take Bernard’s head off every time he gets. At some point in time Bernard is going to have to step up and fight as well.”
Zab Judah back at junior welterweight…
“I think that, to be honest, 140 is the only place for him to be. He’s been beaten by everybody at 147; there’s no point for him to be there anymore. He’s lost to everyone so he is in the right place, where he should be. He actually has a chance to resurrect his career.”
Not sold on Miguel Cotto…
“I think he’ll be in big fights, only because of who he is. I don’t think he has recovered from the Pacquiao fight. He fought a guy who can’t break and egg and who also had one leg. It’s not like he beat a top echelon fighter; he just beat an opponent. It’s like Meldrick Taylor. After Meldrick Taylor was devastated by Chavez in the second fight he still went on to win another world title at a higher weight division. That’s the same thing with Cotto. Cotto is pretty much damaged goods but he’s not damaged to the point where just anybody is going to walk in there and defeat him. You’re going to have to be a top fighter to beat him. Cotto is far from back from beating Yuri Foreman. When you bring up big names like Pacquiao, Floyd and other names like Martinez, guys like that he will have problems with. Then I think you will see how far he hasn’t come back. You will see that there is still a lot going on with him that needs to be dealt with mentally and I just don’t think he can pull the trigger anymore.”
Andre Berto’s missed opportunities…
“Berto is a hell of a fighter but I think that it’s up to him. If he wants these fights he needs to let it be known. Even on the night when Shane and Floyd were going to fight, they actually brought him on the stage and Michael Buffer kept asking him ‘Do you want the winner? Do you want the winner?’ First they asked him who he thought was going to win and he said Floyd. Then they asked him if he wanted the winner and he never answered it one way or the other. That was his biggest opportunity to say ‘I want the winner of this fight’, whether it was Floyd or whether it was Shane. He didn’t take that initiative. Maybe right now he’s a little content but in order to be the man he’s going to have to beat someone. At some point in time he’s going to have to open up his mouth and get a little out of character in order to make these fights happen.”
Appreciating Juan Manuel Marquez…
“I’ve always been a fan of his. I’ve always been a fan of Marquez. He’s one of the few Mexican fighters that has tremendous boxing skills to me. Don’t get me wrong, his defense can be suspect sometimes, but he’s a warrior. Every fight he is in he is going to give you a thousand percent and you can never knock a guy like that.”
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at Trimond@aol.com
Source: examiner.com
No comments:
Post a Comment