By Christian Ramos: Bob Arum began the JuanMa/Marquez presser by assuring that the NEGOTIATIONS, for that fight at least, were going on and have been completed. Luckily for us, the fight is on September 18, and with the 3rd Round of the Super 6 fights happening the following 25th and 2nd of October, Showtime is giving the boxing fans the type of fights they deserve.

Then, just when it appears if we’re being spoiled a little, as compared to the preposterous events that have been matched-up lately, there are reports that Elio Rojas has injured his shoulder during training for his showdown against the phenomenal Yuriorkis Gamboa. That is in no way a good thing for Rojas, but for boxing fans aside of the two or three Rojas fans out there, this opens up an opportunity for Caballero to join the mix.

Celestino Caballero is in no way the most exciting, charismatic, and overall entertaining fighter to watch, but he seems to always get the job done. Caballero has been very open about wanting to fight Juan Manuel López and Gamboa. He even went as far as insulting them by questioning their masculinity. Caballero has done almost as much as he can do to grab the media’s attention, being that his performances in the ring do just good enough to be an avoided fighter, but boring enough for the networks to not push for his fights. Nonetheless, as soon as he found out of Rojas’ unfortunate injury, Celestino Caballero made it his mission to get the message across. He is more than willing to step in the ring as a replacement for Elio Rojas on September 11th.

Now, you know there can’t be a realistic article on boxing without the bad news regarding politics or money and sometimes both. As for the politics, Bob Arum might favor this fight between Caballero vs. Gamboa. Caballero has beaten JuanMa in the amateurs. In addition, Gamboa’s hand and foot-speed might be a bit too much for the slower Caballero, making him a better option to eliminate Caballero from the equation and focus on building JuanMa vs. Gamboa.

This is where boxing and more specifically boxers take the more bizarre twists that businessmen only in boxing can take. Once he decides to throw his name into the mix of an unofficial Featherweight Tournament, Celestino Caballero absurdly wants to go 50-50 with Gamboa or even JuanMa. He claims that he’s a “super” champion, and if they want to pay him as much as Gamboa for September 11th, he’s willing to fight. He doesn’t want more than the superstars, he only wants equal treatment.

I don’t even know where to begin. As a boxing analyst and fan, I truly respect Caballero’s talents and courage. He’s a tall fighter than inexplicably decides to fight small sometimes like Paul Williams, but still manages to get the job done. Unfortunately, he’s not worth much. Before Caballero fans go crazy at what I just wrote, the fact of the matter is boxing’s a business. You can be the Super-Mega-Extraordinary Champion of the World. As long as people don’t want to see or fight you, especially pay to see you, you’re worthless in boxing. Not that I agree with the perception, but sadly, that’s exactly the position Caballero’s in.

Hopefully boxers stop chasing dreams and start building them, just as they did when Gatti spent time getting beat up for small amounts of money before earning a shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr. In addition, Arturo Gatti drew huge crowds to Atlantic City and had a bigger fan base than Caballero does now, yet he knew that he was getting a substantially smaller pay than Pretty Boy Floyd. Unfortunately, fighters nowadays chase the almighty dollar instead of a legacy.

Can Caballero come to his senses just in time for his one big opportunity? If so, we might be in store for a pretty good 4 weeks in boxing starting with Caballero vs. Gamboa on September 11th, JuanMa vs. Marquez on the 18th, and the 3rd round of the Super 6 the following 25th and 2nd. Can we be lucky enough to get JuanMa vs. Gamboa early next year?