Celestino Caballero being ducked by Gamboa,JuanMa and Marquez

BoxingScene.com received a call from a furious Lou DiBella, who wanted to respond to an earlier story pertaining to the negotiations to make a featherweight fight between Celestino Caballero and Yuriorkis Gamboa for July 24 on HBO. In an earlier story, Gamboa's promoter Bob Arum claimed Caballero priced himself out, and WBC champion Elio Rojas is now the frontrunner to face Gamboa on that HBO date.

DiBella, who promotes Caballero, denies the claim. According to DiBella, Top Rank only offered a package of $250,000 for the fight, which is not much higher than what Caballero made for some of recent opponents, like Daud Yordan. Rojas, according to DiBella, was offered more money than Caballero. DiBella did not disclose the number, but other sources indicate Rojas may have been offered $300,000.

"Caballero is ready to fight Gamboa right now and HBO knows it and so does Top Rank. The highest they offered me was a $250K package for a guy who has two belts and ranked in everyone's top pound for pound list. It has nothing to do with money. They told HBO they weren't interested in the fight. They never made me an offer higher than $250K to split with the fighter, which is absurd," DiBella told BoxingScene.com.

"And on top of that, Gamboa's manager, Tony Gonzalez, in front of WBA officials, approached Caballero about a month ago in Panama. Caballero said 'let's make this fight' and Gonzalez told him Gamboa is not interested unless there is a million dollars on the table for Gamboa. So you tell me who priced themselves out of the fight? HBO knows the fight is not happening because Gamboa's people are not interested right now."

"In all fairness to Arum, it may be a matter of him not believing there is enough money being offered by the network to make the fight, but then don't dare say my fighter, who is taking the short-end of the stick, with two belts and is a pound for pound guy, priced himself out. They told HBO they weren't interested in the fight and I got that directly from HBO. And Gary Shaw said Rafael Marquez is not interested in Caballero either."

BoxingScene received a statement from Caballero which said the following - "Gamboa, Juanma and [Rafael] Marquez, they all know who the elite featherweight is, and if they all think I'm beatable, then fight me."

Moving forward, DiBella plans to explore a possible fight with WBO super bantamweight champion Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. or a fight with WBA champion Chris John.

"We might take a look at Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. at a catch-weight or see if he's interested in coming up. There are other possibilities out there. Caballero would go up to 130 for the right fight. If Chris John plans on fighting on American soil again, we'll fight him too," DiBella said.

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=28072

I think poor Caballero is ducked by pretty much everyone and from what I have seen he is a legit game long lanky fighter who is not one to be taken lightly or fucked with

hoep he will get his big match some day

I've been impressed with Caballero ever since I watched him destroy Steve molitor.

i agree. people are ducking him. he is the man at feather right now. JML and gamboa need to step up now and fight him.

Unfortunately, Chris John's still the man at feather. I'm a big Caballero fan and agree he's being avoided. Do you guys think Jeff Mayweather will help him? If he gets Rojas on tv, it will be good exposure for both guys and hopefully make the winner an impossible to avoid fighter.

i dont think that john is being avoided. i think that he has been avoiding people for a long time.

Nobody wants to fuck with Pelenchin, what a shame

Vazquez Jr. is not ready for this test yet. I hope he doesn't take this fight.

I'd love to see Escalante vs Pelenchin!!!!

It's sad, but it's true, I don't think anyone wants to see Caballero right now. The guy is a freakish 5'10", with a long reach, he has a great beard and has power. I wouldn't want to fight him either unless they made the money worth my while!

isnt it crazy Freddie the guys 5'10 but seems like hes 6'3 and your right, I have seen him absolutely cracked and he just shakes it off like nothing

its sad cause he is one of the freaks of the sport that is talented and he doesnt really get his due

Birdofthad wrote:

isnt it crazy Freddie the guys 5'10 but seems like hes 6'3 and your right, I have seen him absolutely cracked and he just shakes it off like nothing

its sad cause he is one of the freaks of the sport that is talented and he doesnt really get his due

Hell ya, he seems so damn tall because the guys he's fighting are normal height! LOL! Dude has an amazing chin and power to go with it, I think he beats all of them. Gamboa relies on being faster and stronger, but if Caballero lands he could put him to sleep with his power, Gamboa has been KD 4 times already. Against Lopez, he would probably walk him down and finish him late. Marquez would be a good fight too, but I still think the size and reach would be too much to overcome. It's sad because these are the fights that need to get made in order to keep the fans happy!

I agree Caballero definitely makes Gamboa taste canvas and we saw how Juanma did vs Mtagwa, Caballero would be his worst nightmare

I agree with you Bird, it wouldn't look good, but I would love to watch all of these fights!

same they would be wars, thats the other thing, I havent seen Caballero in a stinker yet same with Juanma and Gamboa

You gotta love DiBella. He sticks up for all of his fighters. And he did the right thing with Jermain by letting him know where he stood.

As for Arum, he's getting slimier and slimier in his old age. He's almost reaching Don King proportions.

Gamboa and Lopez need to step in the ring with Caballero at some point, but I think Rafa has earned the right to fight who he chooses at this point.

NBrooks5 wrote:

You gotta love DiBella. He sticks up for all of his fighters. And he did the right thing with Jermain by letting him know where he stood.

As for Arum, he's getting slimier and slimier in his old age. He's almost reaching Don King proportions.

Gamboa and Lopez need to step in the ring with Caballero at some point, but I think Rafa has earned the right to fight who he chooses at this point.

100% agree! Rafa can fight whoever, but damn I would still love to see Rafa vs Caballero! That would be an all out war!

Rafa should stay away from Caballero and go fuck up Vic Darchinyans world

Birdofthad wrote:

Rafa should stay away from Caballero and go fuck up Vic Darchinyans world

I would love to see that fight, I can't believe Vic said that he wanted to fight Rafa LOL! I doubt it happens though, it'll be just like the Donaire rematch!

Birdofthad wrote:

Rafa should stay away from Caballero and go fuck up Vic Darchinyans world

He could do both.

Caballero is good, I don't argue that. But he isn't invincible.

It's good to see you hear Freddie.

ya man who wouldve thought Donaire would be so uimprtant and do nothing with his win over VIc,

I honestly want to see Rafa fight Agbeko, Vic obviously believes he can knock out anyone but weve seen that isnt the case, rAFA GOES TO TOWN ON viC imo

NBrooks5 wrote:

Birdofthad wrote:

Rafa should stay away from Caballero and go fuck up Vic Darchinyans world

He could do both.

Caballero is good, I don't argue that. But he isn't invincible.

It's good to see you hear Freddie.

It's good to be here with out all the BS on ESPN message boards, that place really went to shit!

Why is it lanky fighters who're always having difficulty finding fights.

You've got Caballero,Ali Funeka and Paul Williams.

NBrooks5 wrote:

You gotta love DiBella. He sticks up for all of his fighters. And he did the right thing with Jermain by letting him know where he stood.

As for Arum, he's getting slimier and slimier in his old age. He's almost reaching Don King proportions.

Gamboa and Lopez need to step in the ring with Caballero at some point, but I think Rafa has earned the right to fight who he chooses at this point.

Yup, Bob's definitely(copyright Lennox Lewis) getting more sinister in his old age.