by by-barbara-pinnella
In his first title defense of the WBC Youth Intercontinental Super Bantamweight title, hometown hero Randy Caballero (13-0, 7 KOs) went up against the wild and unpredictable Arturo Santiago (7-4-1, 4 KOs). Held at the Fantasy Springs Hotel and Casino in Indio, California, this fight was scheduled for eight rounds. In the first round both men got in some shots. That wild style of Santiago’s was dangerous at times and made for a tricky fight for Caballero.
Round two saw Randy come out strong, but Arturo kept pushing him back in more ways than one. He had a habit of pushing Randy’s head down and holding at the same time. The referee saw enough of that, and took a point away from Arturo in the third. That seemed to make Santiago mad, and he went a bit crazy on his opponent, getting in some shots.
Randy took control again in the fourth and for the most part ran the show. He got in some big right hands. In the sixth, and following a low blow to Caballero, Arturo had another point taken away for pushing and ultimately throwing Caballero to the ground. This was not a pretty fight, due primarily to the style of Santiago.
Rounds seven and eight had some high spots for each fighter, but Caballero was much more accurate and consistent in every round. He tried to make a more sophisticated fight out of it, but that was impossible against Arturo. We had to go to the scorecards. All of the judges had the fight the same, 80-70 for Caballero, allowing him to retain that belt.
The co-main event saw Andrew Cancio (12-1-2, 11 KOs) battling Fernando Carcamo (9-3, 6 KOs) in a junior welterweight fight scheduled for eight rounds. Cancio was in complete control in round one. He was landing all his punches and really giving Carcamo a bad time. But all that began to change late in the second. The hard hitting and quick Fernando started to come alive against Cancio.
The right eye of Cancio began to look a bit of a mess in round three and got worse in the fourth. Carcamo used punishing body shots by throughout the fight and they really looked to be doing damage. There was a lot of good action going on in this bout which continued through the middle and late rounds.
In the eighth and final Cancio came out like a man possessed. He landed everything, and in a fight that looked to be all but in the bag for Carcamo, Andrew put Fernando on the canvas twice. This was a very entertaining fight, and we had to go to the scorecards. The judges saw it 75-75, and 76-74 twice, both for Cancio. The winner was Cancio, but this was a very active and entertaining fight, and I would look forward to seeing both of these fighters again.
Welterweights went for a scheduled four rounds, when John Worthy (1-2) went up against Angel Osuna (7-3-1, 5 KOs). Osuna was scoring more than Worthy in every round. Worthy showed next to nothing, and was completely dominated by Angel. In the end the judges saw it the same way, as all of them scored the fight 40-36 for Osuna.
Oscar Vasquez (2-0) faced off against Vicente Medellin (0-2) in a fight scheduled for four rounds in the flyweight division. Medellin came to the ring with a live chicken on a leash. That’s right folks. I will say that it did have the referee and many other people laughing. Why he did that, I don’t know.
A well-placed left hand by Vasquez dropped Medellin in first. Vicente had a much better second round. By that I mean that while he was still getting hit, he came out swinging and was able to connect with some of his punches, something that eluded him in the first.
Oscar was in complete control of the third, and almost put Vicente away in the few seconds before the bell. Vasquez remained in control of the fourth round. The bell came just in time, as he was hitting lefts and rights at will. The fight would have probably been stopped had the final bell not rung. But we did have to go to the scorecards. All the judges saw the fight the same, 40-34 for Vasquez.
We saw another fight scheduled for four rounds, this time in junior lightweight division.. Osman Rivera (1-1) had to face Jose Garcia (0-2). We saw an active first round for both fighters. A quick little combination by Rivera put Garcia on the canvas in the second.
The third was a much better round for Garcia. He landed some punches and acted a lot more aggressive than he had in the previous rounds. But Rivera started the fourth off strong, only to be answered by Garcia. This has turned into a nice little back and forth battle. Garcia was really coming back here. The last 10 seconds of the round both men were trying their best to knock each other out. We again went to the scorecards. 40-37 Garcia 39-36 Rivera, and 40-37 for Rivera. Osman was the winner by split decision.
The opener had Kenny Williams (2-0-1, 1 KO) go up against Joaquin Chavez (1-0-1, 1 KO). This was a junior welterweight fight, and yet another four rounder. The boxers fought to a majority draw.
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