CASIMERO BEATS BUHAWE IN ILIGAN
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 26 Jun 2017
Former two-division IBF world champ John Riel Casimero had his first fight since relinquishing the IBF flyweight crown and beat Jecker Buhawe by unanimous verdict in Iligan City last June 25.
Casimero was reported to be fighting three-time world title challenger Richie Mepranum of Sarangani but an injury to Mepranum forced Casimero?s camp to look for a substitute opponent.
?Mepranum was injured in training a week before the scheduled fight date,? Promoter Sammy Gello-ani told this writer. ?We had to rush in looking for an opponent and Buhawe accepted the offer. We did not immediately announce it because we were waiting for the approval of the GAB.?
Gello-ani also told philboxing a few interesting details about the fight. ?The fight was originally scheduled at 5:30 PM but it was moved to 1:00PM due to the early curfew issued on the last day of Ramadan. The Mepranum fight was a done deal since May before Martial Law was declared in Mindanao. We monitored the situation in Iligan City and decided to go on with the scheduled fight.?
?Casimero landed some good shots in the early rounds and he knocked down Jecker Buhawe in the second round.? Gello-ani stated, ?Buhawe managed to finish the round and survived in the succeeding rounds by clinching Casimero more often. He finished the fight handing Casimero the UD result.?
Casimero is now 24W-3L,15KO?s. Buhawe drops to 16W-14L-1D,10KO?s.
Boxrec had the fight held at the Iligan Public Plaza listed at six rounds with both boxers at 117. Casimero, from Ormoc City, is fighting in his third weight category after reigning as the IBF world light flyweight champion from 2012 till 2014 when he lost his title at the scales before knocking out Colombian challenger Mauricio Fuentes in one round in Cebu City. He captured his second world title as a flyweight last year, stopping Thai Amnat Ruenroeng in four rounds in a revenge fight, held in Beijing, China. After defending his belt by stopping British Charlie Edwards in ten rounds in the U.K., Casimero decided it was time to go up to another weight class.
The May 2017 rankings of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) has the 27 year old Casimero ranked number 4 at junior bantamweight. The IBF world champion in this division is another Filipino, Jerwin Ancajas (26W-1L-1D,17KO?s), who will defend his title in a mandatory defense against Japanese challenger Teiru Kinoshita on the undercard of the WBO world welterweight title fight between boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and Australian challenger Jeff Horn in Brisbane, Australia on July 2.
File photo - Johnriel Casimero one day before leaving for the U.K. to defend against Charlie Edwards.
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