By Chris Robinson
Mum has been the word in regards to undefeated stalwart Floyd Mayweather Jr. these days. Anyone looking to spot the fighter inside of the friendly confines of his personal gym in Las Vegas would have also been out of luck on this Wednesday afternoon as the fighter was nowhere to be found, but after sticking around the facility for a few hours a few interesting storylines rose the surface.
WBA super bantamweight champion Celestino Caballero recently arrived in Las Vegas from his native Panama and is preparing for a November 27th clash with Jason Litzau at the nearby MGM Grand. Caballero has been unable to lure any of the big names at 122 or 126 pounds into the ring with him and instead had to move up another division to meet Litzau at junior featherweight.
Caballero noted that Litzau, who has been stopped twice in his eight year career, has no chin and seemed to shake his head when asked if the Minnesota fighter poses any kind of a challenge to him. Caballero is hopeful to land either Juan Manuel Lopez or Yuriorkis Gamboa as a future opponent but for the moment the two men seemed tied to one another.
Caballero is trained by one of the area’s busiest coaches, Jeff Mayweather. The mild-mannered Mayweather said that he and Caballero simply have to keep hope that the big names will one day be practically forced to fight him; otherwise Caballero may be phased out of the big picture at 126 pounds. At 34 years of age Celestino has little time to waste.
Mayweather also oversees the duties of welterweight prospect Chase Corbin and undefeated middleweight Brandon Gonzales. Gonzales is coming off of a 3rd round TKO over Byron Tyson in late August and on this day he sparred with undefeated super middleweight Dion Savage. The two fighters went at each other recklessly and gave each other some serious work.
Floyd’s Uncle and trainer Roger has a trial coming up on October 25th in relation to an August 2009 incident with one of his former female fighters, Melissa St. Vil, who accused him of assault. Despite that apparent black cloud hovering over his head Roger was as care free as always as spoke in depth about his life, his kids, the lessons he learned and much more.
While Floyd himself was nowhere to be found his presence was still in the building as several people discussed his whereabouts.
One of the prized fighters to Mayweather Promotions, Jesse Vargas, said that Floyd congratulated him recently on his first round knockout over Pablo Daniel Sarmiento last month at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Vargas sports a 12-0 record with 7 knockouts and is regarded as one of the hottest prospects in the area.
Jeff has recently reconnected with Floyd after several years of distance between them. He still noted that their relationship is a work in progress and that he recently gave Floyd some numbers to some powerful attorneys to help him with his own upcoming legal battle. Mayweather awaits a November 9th trial in which he faces various charges of larceny and misdemeanors after an incident last month with his ex Josie Harris.
Roger said that he talked to Floyd the other day and that he seems to be doing well despite all of the drama connected to him. Roger said that he fully expects his nephew to step into the ring again and compete as a professional.
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Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. An archive of his work can be found here, and he can be reached at Trimond@aol.com
