OnThEGRiND BoXiNG

Monday August 31st, 2009
by K.M. Stansen

Greetings once again boxing fans, here we shall take a look at the Lopez/Caballero debacle in-depth and try to come to a verdict on ‘what is actually going on.’

The facts:

1. Celestino Caballero has been calling out Juan Ma obsessively for close to a year now.

2. Caballero holds two belts and has fetched himself a P4P top 10 ranking, while seemingly being easy pickings for an elite fighter, and would provide a good payday and meritable win at this point for a fighter that is looking to ‘breakout’ per say.

3. Around late 2008 and into early 2009 Lopez made it clear that he did not want to fight Caballero, and also made it sternly known to all that he will attempt to go for Vasquez or Marquez…and that his management is in control of his career.

4. Caballero became more aggressive in vocally hammering Lopez, and has remained the biggest payday for Lopez that is ‘politically possible’ to be made on both sides, then ended up fighting a top 20 ranked fighter, struggling with him, and getting a blatant gift decision but still retaining his belts and P4P ranking.

5. Around the same week Lopez had fought Gerry Penalosa, and was very impressive in showing off a great skill set, work rate, chin, and stamina. A short time later Lopez maintained that he’d like to fight Yuriorkis Gamboa. The Gamboa fight most likely is not possible at this point in time, due to the scumbag-esque politics that have been intertwined ever since the glory days.

6. In the summer of 2009 Caballero had upped his antics 10 fold, putting out entertaining videos, and calling Lopez out every chance he gets, portraying the role of the hungry fighter obsessed with the big name in his weight range, and yet still remaining the biggest possible payday and credible win at this moment, as well as his being a seemingly ‘easy victory’ given all of the factors for a rising elite fighter.

7. Lopez faced a tune-up opponent in June, still mentioning Gamboa and further made it clear that his management owns his career, much like countrymen Miguel Cotto and Ivan Calderon. All the while avoiding any questions related to the man calling him out relentlessly, offering two championship titles, a seemingly easy victory, and a 1 million dollar offer on the table.

8. Caballero continues his media tour; both men have up coming tune-up fights and Caballero even made an appearance on the OnThEGRiND BoXiNG RaDIo show, and courteously confirmed all of this from his side of the equation to the OtG Team and their loyal listening base.

9. The world waits to see what Lopez and company do next.

So my friends, these are the one hundred percent facts of the issue. While I am still making my own observations, I’ve never seen a fighter with all of the gifts that Lopez has that avoids a fight for him that would be akin to a five star meal in front of an island castaway at this point in his career. Truly an odd scenario, the politics of boxing never fail to present pointlessly conducive jests at the fans, whom are indeed the people that permit all parties considered to gain tremendous elevations in their lives and legend, no pun intended.

The Verdict:

I have not closed the book just yet, but it is growing into a further lost cause to try and defend Juan Manuel Lopez and company in this debacle. I do want them prove us wrong here, as Juan Ma is in fact a proven level above Caballero in consistency and tangible ability. It makes little to no sense, though all of us have missed key factors prior when attempting to act out as astute boxing fans.

Eight out of the Ten imaginary judges in my mind are calling Juan Ma guilty of blatant, classical ducking and worrying of some factor that Caballero brings to the table.

Regards,
KM Stansen