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FUEGO EN MEXICALI - PELENCHIN VS. FRANKIE By Jonathan Davis PhilBoxing.com Sat, 29 Aug 2009 MEXICALI, MEXICO--Celestino "Pelenchin" Caballero, 30-2-0, 21 KOs, will put his IBF/WBA Junior Featherweight title on the block against the dangerous Francisco "Frankie" Leal of Mexico on Saturday, August 29, 2009 at Plaza de Toros Calafia in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. This will be the rangy Panamanian superstar's 10th defense of the WBA championship belt he first won by a unanimous decision in an eliminator bout with Yober Ortega of Venezuela for the WBA interim championship on October 15, 2005 in Figali, Panama. A year later, Caballero captured the regular WBA championship belt by knocking out defending champion Somsak Sithchatchawal in the 4th round in Thailand. In December 2008, he partly unified the 122 lbs weight division by annexing the IBF crown of Steve Molitor with a devastating 4th round knockout of the previously unbeaten Canadian kid and silencing the partisan fans at Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada. He last defended his IBF/WBA crown with a hard fought split decision victory against the crafty Joseph Mathebula of South Africa in July this year at the Arena Roberto Duran in Panama City. He has since been openly calling out Puerto Rican Juan Manuel Lopez, the WBO Super Bantamweight kingpin, to meet him in the ring and settle once and for all as to who is the true ruler in their division. He says, it is the fight that both the fans and the media wants to happen right now. The other title holder also on sight in his radar is his WBC counterpart, Toshiaki Nishioka of Japan, who recently kayoed Johnny Gonzales of Mexico. The challenger on the other hand, Francisco "Franky" Leal, who sports a ring record of 14-4-2 with 9 KOs in his 20 pro bouts, will be taking on the biggest fight of his career in his first championship attempt, but he has the solid backing of his hometown crowd here in Mexicali, Mexico. His countrymen feels Frankie has a fair chance of scoring an upset knockout victory against the formidable Pelenchin, who loves to trade bombs, sometimes with abandon in unceasingly stalking his opponents until they wilt down from his rain of haymaker punches. In two of his notable slugfests, he forced the once feared former Flyweight kingpin Lorenzo Parra to quit in the 12th round of a non-stop action with a fractured jaw, and sent down Daniel Ponce de Leon to the canvas with a body shot in the 8th round en route to scoring a unanimous decision win and dealing the Mexican warrior his first professional loss. At nearly 6 foot tall, and dwarfing all his challengers in the 122 lbs. division, the 33 year old, Panamanian beanpole Pelenchin is like the new Thomas Hearns of the lower weights. This impressive boxing promotion of Ignacio Huizar Robles of KO Entertainment, in cooperation with Corona Extra and Mexican TV giant, Televisa, which will beam the fight live in Mexico and in Southern California, will have two co-features - the WBC Female Super Flyweight Championship fight between Mexican Ana "La Guerrera" Torres and American Ava "Lady of Boxing" Knight, and, the clash between local heroes Gilberto Sanchez and Carlos "El Salado" Yanez for the IBF Regional Latino Featherweight Championship. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Jonathan Davis.  |
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