By Rick Reeno

Another switch in the ongoing saga to finalize the details for a planned fight between WBA featherweight champion Celestino "Pelenchín" Caballero (36-4, 23KOs) and mandatory challenger Mikey Garcia (28-0, 24KOs). The fight was originally scheduled for July 28th in Indio, California and Telefutura was going to televise. A few days ago, promoter Sampson Lewkowicz confirmed his intentions to move the event to September 7 at the Hard Rock Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. And he secured the televised backing of Showtime, who planned to air the fight as part of their ShoBox series.

According to sources in the WBA, Caballero protested Lewkowicz's idea to move the fight to September. The Panamanian boxer had inactivity fears, with his last fight taking place in Japan on December 31.

Because the WBA sided with Caballero, Lewkowicz was planning to reschedule the event to the orginal date of July 28th - but now in Panama City, which is Caballero's backyard and one of the original locations proposed to the WBA.

But, Lewkowicz spoke with Caballero several times in the last few days and made the champion realize that a move to July 28th in Panama would likely kill the fight. Caballero stepped back on his demands and agreed to Lewkowicz's idea for the September date on ShoBox.

Lewkowicz, who doesn't promote either boxer, secured the promotional rights by winning the WBA's purse bid

More than likely, Caballero realized that Lewkowicz's winning bid of $440,000 would become invalid if Garcia dropped out.