STUART HALL remains determined to reclaim a world title despite the intense disappointment of Saturday’s IBF World Bantamweight defeat to American Randy Caballero.

Caballero, who now boasts an unblemished record from 22 professional contests, was able to celebrate a unanimous points victory at Monte Carlo’s Salle des Etoiles, with his superior movement and technique ultimately settling an encounter that was much closer than the final scorecards suggested.

Darlington’s Hall gave his all, with his whole-hearted, battling performance evoking memories of last December’s world-title win over Vusi Malinga, but he was unable to claw back the deficit that was created by a second-round knockdown.

The defeat follows hot on the heels of June’s world-title reverse at the hands of Paul Butler, and raises questions about 34-year-old Hall’s future plans.

The North-Easterner has always maintained he will not carry on fighting past his peak, but with Saturday’s fight having drawn rave reviews from a large terrestrial audience who were watching live on Channel Five, he is adamant this is not the time to hang up his gloves.

“I can’t call it a day on the back of that,” said Hall. “If I’d been beaten out of sight, then maybe I would start thinking seriously about whether to carry on. But that was a really close fight that just proves I belong at world level.

“Make no mistake about it, Caballero is a real talent. He would have hammered any of the fighters I’ve been in with in the past, but I matched him from the moment I was knocked down and I’m happy with the way I handled myself.

“I’m going to have a couple of weeks break now and look at all my options, but I certainly don’t feel like a fighter who’s got nothing else to give. I still don’t have a lot of miles on the clock at this level, and I want to get back here as quickly as I can. This won’t be the last time you see my fighting for a world title.”

With Caballero keen to raise his profile in the United States by fighting domestic rivals, there is little chance of a rematch despite Hall’s spirited showing.

The lure of a future contest with long-term bantamweight rival Jamie McDonnell remains, although the South Yorkshireman’s career appears to be heading in an unpredictable direction. The likes of Lee Haskins and Sergio Perales are viable future opponents, although Hall would be unlikely to take on fights that did not offer a route back to becoming a mandatory challenger within the IBF rankings.

A pursuit of the European title could be the most appealing option, and Hall is likely to sit down with his promoter, Dennis Hobson, next month to discuss his next move.

“There’s still plenty of avenues that are open to us,” said Hobson. “Stuart’s a warrior and once again he’s proven his right to be fighting at world level.

“The kid, Caballero, is top notch, but Stuart’s certainly not disgraced himself in there and there were moments in the fight when he was on top and causing some damage.

“Ultimately, the early stoppage has probably cost us because Stuart was on the back foot from that point onwards trying to claw up ground. He gave it everything he had, and once again he’s served up a real treat for the viewers at home.

“The only disappointment is the scoring, which was so far out of touch it’s unreal. How one of the judges in particular could have had Stuart so far behind is beyond me. I don’t know what fight he was watching, but it wasn’t the same one everyone else saw.”

The judge in question was Englishman Stuart Gray, whose 118-110 verdict in favour of Caballero failed to reflect the closely-fought nature of the majority of the contest.

While the two other scores of 116-111 were still probably skewed slightly too far towards Caballero, it was Gray’s reading of the fight that had most seasoned observers shaking their head.

“It leaves a sour taste in the mouth,” said Hall. “I can take losing and maybe with the knockdown, I finished a point or so behind. But eight points is just ridiculous.

“It makes you think that I could have done absolutely anything and still not have won if he’s going to score it like that.

“I’ve had so many texts from people saying they can’t believe the way it was judged. It’s nice that people recognise it was wrong, but in some ways it’s worse than being told you were outclassed and deserved to lose the fight completely.

“It’s hard to be told you’ve been let down by the judging, but that’s the way it happened and I’ll just have to move on. If anything, it just makes me more determined to make him (Gray) eat his words next time I’m in the ring.

“I’ll come back stronger from this once I’ve had a bit of time to let things settle down. I woke up the morning after the fight feeling fine and the swelling is already going down. I saw Caballero at breakfast, and he’s the one that’s battered and bruised. He knows how hard I pushed him.”