By Rick Reeno
In the toughest fight of his career, WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez went life and death in the championship rounds to win a twelve round unanimous decision over veteran Rogers Mtagwa at the WaMu Theater in New York's Madison Square Garden. Lopez showed a champion's heart and mountain of courage by staying on his feet to finish the fight.
There was one man who made the long trip from Panama to watch the fight at ringside, WBA/IBF super bantamweight champion Celestino Caballero. For months, Caballero and Lopez have been trading insults in the media. During the last few weeks, Lopez told every media outlet that Caballero was the next opponent in January. But when the Mtagwa fight was over Lopez's promoter Bob Arum mentioned two possible names to fight Lopez in January - and Caballero was not one of them. Arum said WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano and WBC featherweight champ Elio Rojas were the two fighters in the running to meet Lopez in 2010 on HBO.
Cabellero told BoxingScene.com that he believes Lopez was exposed by Mtagwa. He claims the entire Lopez team, and members of Top Rank, bailed after the fight, and nobody even spoke to them about a possible unification with Lopez.
"I came all the way from Panama to watch Juama get exposed by an old man like Mtagwa. He put in the newspaper [that] after Mtagwa he wanted Celestino. He is so scared that they didn't even my name after the fight. Now I put a statement to every super bantamweight or featherweight - who dares to challenge me - because I lost all my hope with Juanm Lopez. Because it's a fact that he will go to Puerto Rico to hide behind the shell of a clam," Caballero said.
"After the fight, everybody ran away. None of the executives from Top Rank approached my adviser Sampson Lewkowicz or myself. Everyone knows in the arena, if I was in there tonight - he would been knocked out cold."
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