Randy Caballero fails to make weight, loses IBF bantamweight belt

Coachella’s unbeaten Randy Caballero lost his International Boxing Federation bantamweight title on the scale in Las Vegas Friday, missing the weight limit for his scheduled Saturday fight on the Miguel Cotto-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez undercard at Mandalay Bay by a staggering 5 1/2 pounds.

Less than two hours later, Caballero’s opponent, Lee Haskins of England, rejected an offer to fight and Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Bob Bennett said the bout was canceled.

Bennett said Nevada rules allow a fighter two pounds or less over the weight limit one hour to lose the weight, but in this case, the only question was whether the fight would continue.

Haskins (32-3), who had a contingent of 150 fans from the United Kingdom, opted not to risk a defeat, and entered into negotiations to receive a portion of his purse, which was believed to be $100,000.

Caballero, 25, was “devastated” by the development, according to his father, Marcos Caballero, who said the fighter weighed 118.6 pounds Thursday night on a personal scale.

“He went straight to bed, and today he ate nothing,” the elder Caballero said.

Eric Gomez, a Golden Boy executive, said that when Caballero (22-0, 13 knockouts) woke up Friday he’d bloated to 123 pounds.

“I’ve never heard of anything like this,” Gomez said. “He wakes up and his body’s swollen at 123 pounds. They took him to the sauna. He was still at 123. Maybe his body went into shock. It’s incredible. We’re going to have to give him a full exam when he gets home.”

Caballero suffered a February ankle injury and withdrew from a scheduled fight. He hasn’t fought since winning the IBF belt Oct. 25, 2014, against Stuart Hall.

On Thursday night, Caballero posted a Twitter photo showing he was at 119 pounds with a digital scale. The elder Caballero said they did not believe the personal scale was flawed.

“Never in this world has Randy missed weight,” his father, Marcos Caballero, said. “We have no explanation. I don’t know what to tell you. The only thing I can say is that the only way I know how you can gain weight is eating a meal. He never ate.