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Make that THREE Panamanian world boxing champions

by Eric Jackson

Rioberto Vásquez and Vicente Mosquera, make room on the dais. Your exclusive club of reigning Panamanian world champion boxers just got bigger.

It happened during the wee hours of October 16 at the Figali Convention Center, when Celestino “Pelenchin” Caballero squared off against Venezuela's Yober Ortega for the WBA super batamweight crown. Yober, a 40-year-old southpaw who had won most of his bouts by knockouts, had the edge in experience over the 29-year-old Caballero. Though they both weighed in at 122 pounds, Caballero brought a 2 1/2-inch advantage in reach into the ring with him. Hugo Chávez sent along a Venezuelan naval honor guard to carry the Bolivarian Republic's flag into the ring with Ortega, and Caballero's backers sent a contingent of scantily clad Panamanian blondes to accompany their man.

In the first round Caballero played it like most of the experts said that he had to, keeping Ortega from moving in close while tagging him from afar. One of Caballero's blows cut Ortega's right eyebrow.

Was the Panamanian now in position to bring the fight to an early end? It certainly looked like that was what he was trying to do in the second round, when he was on the total offensive and easily won the round. And in the third it started the same way, but ended with Ortega standing his ground and the two fighters standing toe-to-toe, exchanging licks. I scored the third round even but the judges gave it to Caballero, and meanwhile Pelenchín had done what the conventional wisdom said he shouldn't do and gotten away with it.

Through the middle rounds it went back and forth, mostly with Caballero dominant. By the eighth it was apparent that Ortega was going to have to win with a knockout or not at all, and in that round he moved in close, taking a terrible beating in an attempt to get that one big punch that never happened. The Venezuelan continued the offensive in the next round, which was another thrilling slugfest. The ninth round proved that, whether or not Caballero has the knockout power to become of the great champions, he can take a punch like the great ones.

After that Ortega continued to be the aggressor, but it was clear to most observers what was going to happen. After a slip in the 11th round Caballero got up and took command in the 12th and final asalto, whereupon the judges unanimously gave the bout to Pelenchín, now the latest in a long line of Panamanian champions with a record of 22 wins (15 by knockout) against two losses.

The night's other bouts included a split decision in favor of one Panama's other up-and-coming stars, Carlos “Shangai” Melo, over Colombian Ronald Barrera. Melo showed himself a great counter-puncher, but generally at the cost of being hit in the first place. Shangai will almost certainly get a title shot as the result of this less than overwhelming win.

Also on the way up were Whyber García, who took a unanimous decision over Colombia's Wilson Alcorro for the FEDELATIN super featherweight belt; and Tito Mendoza, who scored a sixth round knockout over Trindad-Tobago's David Noel for the FEDECARIBE title in the light heavyweight class. Suffering a career setback was Williams González, the lightweight from Chiriqui, a good athlete who has been stupidly promoted as the “white hope,&rdquo but was resoundingly thrashed and knocked out in the second round by Ameth Díaz, who thus took away González's national and regional titles.

The next fights to determine precisely how many Panamanians will hold world championships will take place abroad, with Vicente “El Loco” Mosquera expected to defend his title in Las Vegas in November and Guillermo “Felino” Jones getting a shot at a cruiserweight belt in December.