STUART HALL'S hopes of regaining the IBF World Bantamweight title were shattered this evening as he suffered a unanimous points defeat to Randy Caballero in Monte Carlo.

In a repeat of last year's victory over Vusi Malinga, Hall found himself embroiled in a gruelling tussle that went the distance.

However, unlike last December, he found himself on the wrong end of the judges' decision as Caballero extended his unbeaten run to 22 fights and secured the world title.

Having knocked Hall to the canvas in the second round, American Caballero probably deserved the victory as he was the more polished of the two rivals.

However, Hall's spirit and commitment was never in doubt and he was the more aggressive boxer for large chunks of the fight.

That made the final scorecards somewhat controversial, with one judge marking the fight 118-100 in favour of Caballero, a huge margin given how close the majority of the rounds were.

The other two judges delivered a 116-111 margin in Caballero's favour, which was a more realistic assessment of the fight.

The Northern Echo:

Having been rocked by a straight jab in the second, a shot that knocked him to the floor, it took a little while for Hall to find his groove and Caballero dominated the first third of the contest.

However, the middle rounds saw Hall become more aggressive and dominant, controlling the centre of the ring and repeatedly forcing Caballero back onto the ropes.

The Darlington fighter could never quite produce the game-changing punch that might have caused Caballero damage though, and the American rallied again to win the final two rounds.

That always looked like being decisive, but in the end, Caballero's victory was more emphatic than most observers might have expected.