Caballero will move up to challenge “The American Boy” Jason Litzau in a 10 round junior lightweight battle.
On November 27, 2010, a great night of boxing will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, as the great Juan Manuel Marquez battles Michael Katsidis, and welterweight sensation Andre Berto will both take the ring again as each of the fighters will defend titles in their respective weight classes. Before these bouts though, another longtime champion will enter the ring, where a fight will break out in the junior lightweight division as Panama’s Celestino Caballero will move up in weight to fight Jason Litzau in a ten round bout.
Tale of the Tape
Celestino “Pelenchin” Caballero is 34 years old, with a boxing record of 34 wins and 2 losses. He stands at 5 feet 11 inches tall, with a 72 inch reach, fighting out of the orthodox stance.
“The American Boy” Jason Litzau is 27 years old, with a boxing record of 27 wins and 2 losses. Litzau stands at 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a 73 inch reach, and he also fights out of the orthodox stance.
Caballero vs. Litzau Preview
Celestino Caballero, also known as the Towering Inferno, was the former longtime IBF super bantamweight champ. He hails from Colon, Panama, and is one of boxing’s most dangerous little men. Since turning professional in 1998, Caballero stormed onto the scene by winning four minor titles in Panama, and won his first 17 fights. Caballero has quality over great fighters such as Giovanni Andrade, Daniel Ponce de Leon, Somsak Sithchatchawal, and Steve Molitor.
In his last fight back in April of this year, he faced off against the undefeated Indonesian boxing prospect Daud Yordan in his first fight in the featherweight division. In this fight, Caballero used his overwhelming size and boxer-puncher style to win a unanimous decision victory.
“The American Boy” Jason Litzau is a St. Paul, Minnesota native who started boxing at the age of 11. Litzau had a great amateur career, with a record of 125 wins and 10 losses, was a Silver Gloves national champion, and was a member of the 2001 U.S. National team. Litzau turned professional in 2002, and since then has not really went up against any quality opponents, that is, except for Jose Hernandez and Robert Guerrero, the two fighters he lost to.
Since losing to Guerrero in 2008, “The American Boy” has won his last four fights, and while achieving this, he captured the NABF junior lightweight and lightweight titles. The most memorable fight in Litzau’s four fight win streak came in his last fight back in April of this year when he fought the up and down Texas native Rocky Juarez. Litzau dominated the fight, but was later head-butted by Juarez, and the fight was stopped in the seventh round due to the cut over Litzau’s cheek. The fight went to the judges’ scorecards and “The American Boy” was awarded the technical decision.
Caballero vs. Litzau Prediction
This is a fight where action will depend on whether or not Litzau will try to use his straight-forward aggression to offset the power of Caballero, or if “The American Boy” decides to lay back and try to box the towering inferno. I expect this fight to have a lot of action because both of these fighters are looking upward to prove that they are the best in the division.
When the dust clears, however, I expect the Inferno to burn up the boxing style of Litzau as Caballero will overwhelm him with his power punching and his overall superior skill and high work rate. Caballero should win this fight easily, though he is the older fighter and for once in his career, does not have the reach advantage. Ultimately, this is an intriguing bout, but it’s a stay busy fight for Caballero who has been unable to lure some of the other big names in and around his division into the ring with him.
Prediction: Caballero by eight round knockout
