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Lee Haskins is headed home with no fight, but he is the new IBF bantamweight titleholder following Randy Caballero's failure on the scales this afternoon in Las Vegas. Caballero, who entered the day as the IBF titlist, weighed in at 123½ pounds, or five and a half pounds over the fight's weight limit.
Haskins, who weighed 117½, and his team rejected Golden Boy's attempts to negotiate a catchweight fight, as it really made no sense for them to risk anything against Caballero, who would have a distinct weight advantage. The fight was set to air on the live streaming preliminary bouts show before the Cotto-Canelo pay-per-view broadcast.
Haskins (32-3, 14 KO) had won six straight fights, claiming the British, European, and interim IBF bantamweight titles along the way. With Caballero (22-0, 13 KO) forced to vacate, Haskins has been bumped from interim champion to full IBF champ, instead of having to fight Caballero anyway in order to claim the belt.
It doesn't appear as though Haskins will get his purse, but he now has a lot of options with a world title, and his career can move forward as a fighter with a claim to a world championship, giving him some leverage.