By Elisinio Castillo
A touch of hopeful destiny for former world champion Randy "El Matador" Caballero.
According to Marcos Caballero, father and trainer of Randy, they were advised that his son's next fight has been scheduled for March 23 in Palm Springs, California, as part of Golden Boy Promotions' new fight series on ESPN.
The opponent they are facing is Victor Proa (28-2-2, 21 KO) at 122 pounds. Caballero, the former bantamweight champion of the International Boxing Federation (IBF), is very motivated to secure another world title opportunity.
On Thursday, promoter Rosendo Alvarez had stated that Randy would fight on April 1 in Managua as part of the event which is going to feature the ring return of Ricardo Mayorga. Alvarez told local reporters that Golden Boy had already authorized permission for Caballero's appearance, but everything changed.
"It is confirmed that Randy will fight on March 23 in the United States, against Proa. The only thing missing is Golden Boy making the official announcement," said Marcos Caballero to La Prensa.
Alvarez is hoping to have Caballero appear on one of his cards in Nicaragua in the future.
"We already had permission from Golden Boy Promotions for Randy to be part of the April 1 event, which is going to feature Ricardo Mayorga, but they made a decision to [have Randy] fight in the United States, and that is good as we all know of the influence of ESPN. Hopefully later we can count on him," said Rosendo Alvarez of Buffalo Boxing, who was surprised by the announcement.
At the end of 2016, Caballero renewed his promotional contract with Golden Boy for the next five years. The last time Caballero fought was in February 2016.
"The last two years were disastrous for us. After losing the title on the scale in 2015, Randy suffered a lot. Thank God this is a new opportunity to get things right. My son is happy with the news, we are going to put a lot of effort into the preparation," said the elder Caballero.