Jonathan Barros Defends Title, Defeats Celestino Caballero by Split Decision

Former IBF and WBA Super Bantamweight Champion Celestino Caballero (34-4, 23 KO) dropped his second loss in a row after losing a close and controversial split decision to WBA World Featherweight Champion Jonathan Victor Barros (33-1-1, 18 KO) in Mendoza, Argentina on Saturday.

Caballero came out fast and knocked Barros down with a right hand halfway through Round 1.

It was an early type of lead that could or could not have hurt Caballero going through the rest of the fight. He began to throw fewer and fewer punches throughout the bout but still kept a steady pace, using his height and reach advantage.

Both boxers exchanged frequently throughout the first four rounds. Several warnings were given to Barros for using rough tactics whenever he clinched with his opponent. Both were hitting each other behind the head for the majority of the bout.

Caballero used his superior defense and head movement to avoid getting hit clean by the high volume of punches being thrown by Barros. He didn’t throw many in return, which may have swayed some of the rounds in Barros’ favor.

Caballero began to pick up the pace at the end of Round 8 and dropped Barros again in Round 9 with a hard right hand.

The final three rounds were close with lots of clinching and holding. Caballero, who is 5'11" tried to work from the clinch but had trouble landing effectively with his long arms. Barros bloodied his mouth in Round 11 and finished the fight with both boxers raising their hands.

In the end, one scorecard read 115-112 for Caballero while the other two read 114-112 and 116-110 for Barros. Barros' only career defeat is to WBA Super Featherweight Champion Yuriorkis Gamboa.

Some have been saying it was a hometown decision for Barros, and it appeared that way with the lopsided 116-110 scorecard.

A fight with two knockdowns shouldn’t be that far apart. That means they gave him every other round except the two rounds that he was knocked down in.

It will be interesting to see where Caballero goes from here. Not too long ago, he was being regarded as one of the best pound for pound boxers in the world.

Barros continues to make his claim as one of the best featherweights in the world with the victory over a highly touted opponent.

I had the fight scored 114-112 for Caballero. The Argentinian commentators had the fight scored 115-112 for Caballero.

The fight is available to watch on Youtube here.