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Undefeated Golden Boy Promotions bantamweight prospect Randy Caballero is looking to take the final step toward his first world title shot, as the 23-year-old Californian is set to face Kohei Oba on Friday, traveling to Kobe, Japan for the IBF eliminator bout.
Caballero (20-0, 12 KO) will be taking a pretty huge step up in class against Oba (35-2-1, 14 KO), a 29-year-old veteran who may not have a lot of big wins on his record, but still represents a big jump from the likes of the guys that Caballero has faced to date.
"This is the fight I've been waiting for, and after beating Oba, I'll get my title shot," said Caballero. "I'm not concerned about the travel time it took for me to get to Japan or any scoring issues; I'm trained to dominate, and I won't leave any doubts this Friday."
The belt is currently held by Stuart Hall, who beat Vusi Malinga for the vacant belt in December, and had a non-starter defense against Martin Ward this past weekend, which ended at 0:35 of the second round due to a cut caused by an accidental headbutt, resulting in a technical draw.