Stuart Hall saw his dreams of becoming IBF bantamweight champion for a second time go up in smoke as Randy Caballero claimed the vacant belt with a points win over the Darlington fighter in Monte Carlo.
Hall lost the title in his last fight earlier this year to domestic rival Paul Butler, who promptly vacated the belt which gave the 34-year-old a chance to immediately become a two-time world champion.
But Hall was largely outclassed by his unbeaten American opponent and was knocked down in the second round on the way to a points loss, with two judges seeing it 116-111 and the third giving it to Caballero by a slightly generous 118-110 margin.
Caballero (now 22-0, 13KOs), started strongly, with a straight left snapping Hall's head back in the opening round before dropping his older opponent in the second with a sharp jab.
Hall walked straight onto the shot but it proved to be a flash knockdown although he continued to be beaten to the punch by a fighter 10 years younger than him.
The Briton did manage to gain a foothold in the middle rounds and landed several blows but none of them threatened to put down Caballero.
The Californian appeared to be tiring down the stretch, having never fought beyond 10 rounds before, but he found a second wind to finish strongly.
The defeat was Hall's fourth in his 22-fight career in the paid ranks.
