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Randy Caballero outpoints Stuart Hall, wins IBF bantamweight title

Fighters Network
25
Oct

Randy Caballero won the vacant IBF bantamweight title with a unanimous decision over former beltholder Stuart Hall on Saturday in Monte Carlo. Caballero, who scored a knockdown in Round 2, won by scores of 116-111 (twice) and 118-110, which was not indicative of the competitive nature of the fight.

Caballero (22-0, 13 knockouts) landed the harder and more accurate punches during the many exchanges between the bantamweight standouts. The 24-year-old boxer-puncher from Indio, California alternately employed stick-and-move and stand-and-trade tactics during the hotly contested fight, often fighting off the ropes and picking his spots to land hard shots.

However, Hall, a 34-year-old pressure fighter from Darlington, England, was the aggressor throughout the fight. Stalking forward all night behind a high guard, Hall, who briefly held the IBF belt that was up for grabs, clearly outworked the younger man in the majority of rounds and appeared the fresher of the two down the stretch, causing many observers to score the 12-round bout in his favor.

Also on the card, THE RING’s No. 6-rated middleweight Martin Murray won a seven-round technical decision over Domenico Spada after the ringside doctor halted the fight due to a nasty gash over the 34-year-old Italian veteran’s right eye.



The cut, suffered in Round 2, was ruled the result of an accidental headbutt, so the scorecards were consulted after the bout was stopped. Murray (29-1-1, 12 KOs) was ahead by tallies of 67-66, 69-67 and 68-63.

Hekkie Budler got up from a second-round knockdown to make the second defense of his WBA 105-pound title via unanimous decision against China’s Xiong Zhou Zhong. The 26-year-old South African, who scored a knockdown in Round 3, won by scores of 114-112 (twice) and 118-108. Budler improved to 27-1, 9 KOs, with the victory. Zhong, a former WBC strawweight beltholder, dropped to 24-6-1, 14 KOs.

 

A full report on the entire card by Tom Gray will be posted shortly.

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