DENNIS HOBSON expects Stuart Hall to reclaim his IBF World Bantamweight title by stopping Randy Cabellero in the closing stages of the pair’s Monte Carlo showdown tomorrow.

Hall takes on the unbeaten Caballero for the vacant IBF title just four months after ceding the world belt to Paul Butler in a scrappy encounter at Newcastle’s Metro Radio Arena.

Since then, the Darlington fighter has decamped to a new training base in Birmingham and swapped his former corner-man, Mick Marsden, for the hugely-respected trainer Paddy Lynch.

Hall is confident the changes have taken him to a new level, and having witnessed the 34-year-old in a number of sparring sessions, his promoter, Hobson, is equally bullish.

The bookmakers make Caballero, who is nicknamed ‘El Matador’, a firm favourite for tomorrow night’s encounter, with the American having won all 21 of his professional contests, 13 of which ended in a knockout.

However, with his biggest successes to date having come at North American or IBF eliminator level, Hall’s camp are confident their fighter’s superior experience at the top of the world game will prove decisive.

“Caballero has never been in with anyone as physically strong, as seasoned, or who hits as hard as Stuart Hall,” said Hobson. “I fancy Stuart – I think it’ll be tough, but it’s on our terms.

“I know he’s not fighting at home, but he is in a sense because it’s co-promoted by me. He’s got the comfort of it being in our time zone, he’s got a new trainer, and he seems as happy as anything.

“Caballero won’t break Stuart Hall down – he’s going to be in a right war. It could be close, but I think Stuart is capable of stopping him late on.

“Hall knows the mistakes he made against Paul Butler. He gave him too much respect, and if Stuart fought Butler again, there would only be one winner. Stuart will hurt Caballero early on, make him resort to Plan B and backtrack, before getting back his title.”

Having won the purse bid to stage the contest, Hobson originally planned to stage tomorrow’s fight in his hometown of Sheffield.

However, scheduling difficulties to meet the IBF’s deadline caused problems, and when the opportunity of a glamour slot at Monte Carlo’s fabled Salle des Etoiles presented itself, the promoter jumped at the chance of taking Hall to one of the most glamorous boxing stages in the world.

The move has already resulted in a primetime terrestrial TV slot on Channel Five, which could help transform Hall’s profile if he is successful.

Given that Caballero is promoted by Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy company, most observers expected there to be a concerted push to stage the fight in the United States and Hobson feels his successful purse bid raises doubts about how highly Hall’s opponent is rated.

“I think initially people thought Caballero was a bit special because he’s a Golden Boy fighter, but they can’t think that much about him because I outbid them in the purse bids,” he said.

“I think he’s still got to prove himself, and once he does that then they’ll start to market him. But he’s still got to prove himself against a fighter with the experience and calibre of Stuart. This fight will either make or break Caballero, and I think Stuart is capable of beating this kid and taking him to places he’s never been.”