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Caballero, Diaz, Spence score body-shot KOs

Fighters Network
21
Jul

INDIO, Calif. – If body punching is a lost art it was found on Saturday’s Golden Boy Live! card at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino where the three co-featured bouts all ended with one-punch shots to the midsections of the opponents of three undefeated prospects.

Randy Caballero stopped Miguel Robles with a short left to the solar plexus in the seventh round of what had been a competitive main event of the Fox Sports Net/Fox Deportes-televised show. The aggressive bantamweight standout from nearby Coachella, Calif. thrilled his vocal hometown fans with the one-punch KO which left Robles on his hands and knees where referee Jack Reiss counted out the 31-year-old Puerto Rico native at 2:09 of the round.

Prior to the stoppage Caballero (19-0, 11 knockouts) was troubled in rounds five and six by Robles’ well-timed overhand rights, sporadic body attack and clinching tactics. However, Robles (12-3-2, 5 KOs) couldn’t match Caballero’s power and once the younger fighter was instructed to go for the knockout between rounds six and seven, the contest ended in abrupt and exciting fashion.

Caballero, who hadn’t fought since January in order to be present for the birth of his daughter, believes he’s ready for a world title shot. Caballero’s the No. 1 contender for WBO bantamweight beltholder Paulus Ambunda, but despite the Nambian’s short stature (5-foot-¾), it might be prudent for manager Cameron Dunkin and promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, to allow for the 22-year-old boxer-puncher to get a few more quality bouts under his belt.



In the co-featured bout of the Golden Boy-promoted card, 2012 U.S. Olympian Joseph Diaz Jr. (6-0, 4 KOs), of South El Monte, Calif., stopped Luis Cosme, of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, in the first round of their scheduled six-round featherweight bout with a well-placed left to the body.

In opening bout of the broadcast, Diaz’s Olympic teammate Errol Spence Jr. (7-0, 6 KOs), of Dallas, scored his third consecutive first-round knockout by paralyzing overmatched Eddie Cordova (4-5-1, 1 KO), of Provo, Utah, with a blazing left to the liver at 2:13 of the round.

The best fight of the card went the distance. Eric Ituarte, of Santa Ana, Calif. (by way of Durango, Mexico) and Humberto Zatarain, of Los Angeles, slugged it out to a crowd-pleasing unanimous draw (38-38) in a four-round junior lightweight bout.   

Ituarte (5-0-1), the more polished boxer of the two, landed the cleaner punches throughout the bout but Zaratain (3-2-1) was the aggressor and landed his share of power shots, especially in the furious final round.

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