Lee Haskins (L) battling Stephen Jamoye on Dec. 14, 2012. Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

There’s no pretense when it comes to Lee Haskins. What you see is exactly what you get.

When Randy Caballero astonishingly weighed in five-and-a-half pounds over the bantamweight limit last November, he surrendered his IBF title to Haskins, who could have celebrated that fact wildly. Instead, the Englishman was absolutely livid and six months on that anger has not been quelled.

“Caballero let us down big time,” snapped Haskins, who makes his first title defense against Mexican Ivan Morales on Saturday. “What he did was very unprofessional. You don’t go to bed on weight and wake up five pounds over. That is unheard of and it has never happened in boxing (history).

“That whole Las Vegas experience became a huge letdown and I have no intention of giving Caballero an opportunity (to win his title back).”

Haskins, who is rated No. 6 by THE RING at 118 pounds, has moved on and will headline against Morales (29-1, 17 KOs) in an all-southpaw showdown at the Ice Arena in Cardiff, Wales.

“I haven’t watched a lot of him but I know he’s got a good record,” said Haskins. “My trainers have had a look at Morales and I leave all the tactical stuff up to them. I just focus on myself and make sure that I’m in the best shape of my life.

“That’s where I am at the moment and I’m just looking to go in there and put on a devastating performance.”

In his most recent outing, Haskins scored what was arguably a career-best win over another southpaw, Ryosuke Iwasa. A crushing left hand dropped the Japanese star in the sixth and the action was halted shortly thereafter.

“I prepared very well for Iwasa and we had plenty of good southpaw sparring for that fight,” recalled the 32-year-old. “It has been the same again and, to be honest, I prefer fighting southpaws. In sparring I catch left-handers with better shots because, being a southpaw myself, I know what they’re going to do.

“Training has been going well and Morales is in for a shock.”

The challenger might be in for a shock but if Haskins prevails, the oddsmakers certainly won’t be. Morales is a significant underdog and Haskins is already looking forward to facing mandatory challenger Stuart Hall, an archrival whom he defeated in a European title bout in July 2012.

“Even if Hall had lost to Rodrigo Guerrero (in an eliminator), and I personally think he did lose, I would have given him the shot,” snarled Haskins.

“Hall talks a load of BS, saying that he’s been calling me out. I’ve been chasing that fight and when he had the (IBF) belt, his promoter and management team wouldn’t give me the opportunity. Hall also said that he was a kid when he lost to me but he’s three years older than I am, so I don’t know how that works.”

Hall isn’t the only British bantamweight attraction that Haskins has bested. In March 2008, he scored an eight-round decision over a novice version of Jamie McDonnell and seeks to repeat that victory now that both men have reached the bantamweight big time.

Haskins said, “I’d beaten him but, again, when he won a world title, I wanted the chance to do it again and the fight didn’t happen. To be honest, it’s a little different with Jamie because I’ve got a lot of respect for him. He deserves to be where he’s at and he’s done an amazing job.

“It’s still a fight that I would take in a heartbeat, though, and hopefully we can meet in the future.”

A former two-weight British champion. A former two-time European champion. A former Commonwealth champion. When Haskins got his hands on a world title, he had held the metaphorical full house and one gets the impression that he’s more than prepared to go all in with the next chapter of his career.

“I want to defend my title as often as I can and I would also love the chance to fight for the WBC title (against Shinsuke Yamanaka),” said Haskins. “Big fights are my priority now and I think I deserve them because I’ve won everything there is to win.

“I’ve been putting the work in and I’m just getting better and better. I’m so hungry to get back in the ring and fight in front of my fans. It will be a great show on Saturday and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Tom Gray is a member of the British Boxing Writers’ Association and has contributed to various publications. Follow him on Twitter: @Tom_Gray_Boxing

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