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By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
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Panama's Celestino Caballero, who unified two of the junior featherweight titles by knocking out Steve Molitor in the fourth round in November 2008, has been stripped of one of his belts by the IBF.
And one of the men who will fight for the vacant 122-pound belt? Molitor.
Caballero (33-2, 23 KOs), who defended the unified crown twice, was relieved of his belt because no promoter, including his own handlers at Warriors Boxing, made an offer at either of the purse bids called for his mandatory defense against South Africa's Takalani Ndlovu.
Although Ndlovu's handlers did not bid on the fight either, he was allowed to retain his position with the IBF and will fight for the vacant belt against Molitor on March 27 on Molitor's turf at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario.
In 2007, Molitor made the first defense of his title reign by knocking out Ndlovu (30-5, 18 KOs) in the ninth round at Casino Rama.
"We didn't bid because we had no place to put the fight and my guy wants to go to 126 pounds anyway," Warriors Boxing's Leon Margules told ESPN.com about why he didn't bid on Caballero-Ndlovu. "If we had a place to do it and could have paid Caballero his money, he would have made the weight. But we didn't and now he's going to move up. There are better opportunities and bigger fights for him at 126 pounds."
Margules and Top Rank have talked about the possibility of Caballero challenging featherweight titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa in the spring or summer on HBO.
"I told [Top Rank's] Carl Moretti, 'Yes, we're interested,' " Margules said.
That leaves Molitor (31-1, 12 KOs) to try to regain his old belt. He first won the then-vacant IBF belt in November 2006 and made four defenses before being blown out by Caballero. Since the loss, Molitor has won three in a row, including a title eliminator, to get himself back in position for another opportunity.
"All I've been thinking about is becoming a two-time champion, and nobody is going to get in my way," said Molitor, 29. "Especially Ndlovu. As good as I was the first time against him, Ndlovu's crazy to think he has a chance of beating me in a rematch. I'm here to not only regain my title, but to show the world I'm even better now than I was during my first title reign. That means laying an even more convincing beating on Ndlovu this time around."
Ndlovu, 32, is 3-1 since the loss to Molitor, including a decision win against Spanish contender Kiko Martinez in September in an elimination bout.
"I have earned my mandatory spot in the IBF rankings, and the fact that I'm now No. 1 and Steve No. 2, speaks volumes. This time around it will be far different from the last time I fought Steve," Ndlovu said. "I'm not overconfident, but the fact that I have agreed to go back to Canada, shows my mindset for this fight. This is most likely my last chance to win the IBF world title and I'm prepared to do what ever it takes to beat Steve."
Dan Rafael is ESPN.com's boxing writer.
ESPN.com
Archive
Panama's Celestino Caballero, who unified two of the junior featherweight titles by knocking out Steve Molitor in the fourth round in November 2008, has been stripped of one of his belts by the IBF.
And one of the men who will fight for the vacant 122-pound belt? Molitor.
Caballero (33-2, 23 KOs), who defended the unified crown twice, was relieved of his belt because no promoter, including his own handlers at Warriors Boxing, made an offer at either of the purse bids called for his mandatory defense against South Africa's Takalani Ndlovu.
Although Ndlovu's handlers did not bid on the fight either, he was allowed to retain his position with the IBF and will fight for the vacant belt against Molitor on March 27 on Molitor's turf at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario.
In 2007, Molitor made the first defense of his title reign by knocking out Ndlovu (30-5, 18 KOs) in the ninth round at Casino Rama.
"We didn't bid because we had no place to put the fight and my guy wants to go to 126 pounds anyway," Warriors Boxing's Leon Margules told ESPN.com about why he didn't bid on Caballero-Ndlovu. "If we had a place to do it and could have paid Caballero his money, he would have made the weight. But we didn't and now he's going to move up. There are better opportunities and bigger fights for him at 126 pounds."
Margules and Top Rank have talked about the possibility of Caballero challenging featherweight titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa in the spring or summer on HBO.
"I told [Top Rank's] Carl Moretti, 'Yes, we're interested,' " Margules said.
That leaves Molitor (31-1, 12 KOs) to try to regain his old belt. He first won the then-vacant IBF belt in November 2006 and made four defenses before being blown out by Caballero. Since the loss, Molitor has won three in a row, including a title eliminator, to get himself back in position for another opportunity.
"All I've been thinking about is becoming a two-time champion, and nobody is going to get in my way," said Molitor, 29. "Especially Ndlovu. As good as I was the first time against him, Ndlovu's crazy to think he has a chance of beating me in a rematch. I'm here to not only regain my title, but to show the world I'm even better now than I was during my first title reign. That means laying an even more convincing beating on Ndlovu this time around."
Ndlovu, 32, is 3-1 since the loss to Molitor, including a decision win against Spanish contender Kiko Martinez in September in an elimination bout.
"I have earned my mandatory spot in the IBF rankings, and the fact that I'm now No. 1 and Steve No. 2, speaks volumes. This time around it will be far different from the last time I fought Steve," Ndlovu said. "I'm not overconfident, but the fact that I have agreed to go back to Canada, shows my mindset for this fight. This is most likely my last chance to win the IBF world title and I'm prepared to do what ever it takes to beat Steve."
Dan Rafael is ESPN.com's boxing writer.
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