Celestino Caballero Wants Juan Manuel Lopez

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 07.02.2009

Looking for a unification bout.

WBA/IBF junior featherweight champ Celestino Caballero is looking for a fight and he wants one against his WBO counterpart Juan Manuel Lopez. However, Caballero may have to wait in line as a possible showdown between Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa is brewing but that hasn't stopped Caballero from calling him out.

"Lopez wants more than easy fights; he wants to be the best in the world," Caballero said earlier today. "The only way he can leave the super bantamweight division as the best is to beat me. There's a lot of talk of Lopez being the next Wilfredo Gomez. Well, Lopez has to remember that Gomez didn't move up to featherweight until he cleaned out everyone at 122 pounds. I guess we'll find out soon if Lopez has ‘Bazooka's fighting spirit."

The 33-year old Panamanian is coming off a 4th round stoppage of previously unbeaten IBF 122-pound champion Steve Molitor in November, and a decision victory over once-beaten top contender Jeffrey Mathebula. Now he wants Lopez, and he's willing to go to Puerto Rico to get the fight.

"I traveled to Canada to beat Molitor, to Venezuela to beat (Lorenzo) Parra, Thailand to beat (Somsak) Sithchatchawal, and California to beat (Daniel) Ponce De Leon," said Caballero. "To be a true world champion you must fight around the world, even if it means going to your opponent's backyard. I will go to Puerto Rico to fight Lopez with no problem, and by the end of the fight, the fans will be cheering me when my hand is raised."