John Riel Casimero wins WBO 118-pound title---third world crown in as many weight divisions
By Emmanuel Rivera, RRT PhilBoxing.com Sun, 21 Apr 2019
Carson, California: It was very cold and late this eve of Easter Sunday. But to the 100 people left in attendance at the Dignity Health Sports Park, including the fighters, the ref, ring officials, 50 Mexican and 10 Filipino fans, the last (off-television) throwback of a fight was worth the wait.
I hope we agree based on some insider Tweets, Youtube, Instagram and Facebook posts from these select few, that it was the best fight of the evening. They saw the return of Danny ?Swift? Garcia who dropped Adrian Granados three times before stopping him in round seven for the WBC Silver Welterweight Championship.
Here are some quips, quotes, pics and vids shared by true boxing fans and insiders on how John Riel ?Quadro Alas? Casimero recaptured ring glory.
Top photo: John Riel Casimero with his new WBO Bantamweight Championship belt. Photo by Robert Lyons.
Robert Lyons of Starflite International, Inc. observed, ?Rounds 1-4 were wicked physical debates. They just unloaded on each with wild abandon. We?ve all been waiting 5-6 hours and both combatants appeared eager to make up for lost time. The fifth and six stanzas were more of the same, until John Riel Casimero released a right cross that knocked down Ricardo Espinoza Franco who bounced back despite visibly being hurt. The action continued with Espinoza dictating and Casimero reciprocating until the 12th and final when the boxer from Ormoc, Leyte uncorked a vicious right upper cut that had the Mexican fighter on the ring apron. After the count of eight, Casimero followed up with barrage of overhand rights, wicked right straights and left hooks which prompted the referee to halt it at the 34 second mark.?
What a night cap for fight fans.
Morris ?Hot Java? East, the Las Vegas-based boxing manager agreed, ?Ricardo ?Hindu? Franco is a hell-of-a fighter. He?ll probably need to rethink boxing and just concentrate on his college education after this. John Riel ?Quadro Alas? Casimero is of a different ilk. He is what we consider a fighter?s fighter. Tonight was his debut in the United States and he sure did not disappoint.?
Sean Gibbons, in a Youtube post said, ?John Riel, I?m out of breath, brother, my Facebook stopped in the eleventh round. I didn?t know what was happening. I never had a doubt. I knew you?d do it. Three-time champion of the world!?
By the fight?s end on the 12th round, the Waray they call John Riel Casimero celebrated his latest win with a shovel for a metaphor.
If he was pretending to till the soil?fine.
Pretending to bury the past without amendment?not so fine.
The great writer A.J. Liebling still reminds us the similarity of life and the fight game in his oft-repeated phrase? ?The Sweet Science is joined onto the past like a man?s arm to his shoulder.?
