Bantamweight: Former Waterloo, Now Philippines Glory Division (Part Four- Johnriel Casimero Cometh)
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 13 Jul 2021
Though he has established a reputation as terror in the lighter weights, very few has anticipated that Johnriel Casimero would become a force to reckon with at bantamweight and that he would crash the party for overall domination of the division.
For one, he has had a forgettable stint at super flyweight or 115 lbs class where he blew a chance big time to arrange an All Filipino World title fight against long reigning IBF champion Jerwin 'Pretty Boy' Ancajas by fighting lethargically in losing by points in an eliminator versus countryman Jonas Sultan.
After that defeat, his career floundered, with him seemingly at the lowest point in his life as he allegedly lost appetite for training and conditioning and apparently boxing as a whole. His weight reportedly ballooned to more than 140 lbs and for a while, he thought of fighting at featherweight or even lightweight.
But some well meaning people kept their faith in him, including Las Vegas based former Fil-Am world champion now boxing manager Morris East who took him in and enabled him to come to the US for better management and training.
He was soon convinced to put himself back to ship shape and focus again on boxing and his career.
But for some unknown reason, Johnriel suddenly left Morris, triggering a contractual dispute that would drag on for years.
He left for Mexico where he fought a certain Jose Pech who was with a lousy record, in a featherweight bout. He won easily by knockout.
Soon he was back in Manila and under the tutelage of retired former WBA super flyweight and WBO bantamweight titlist Gerry Peñalosa, he took on rated Japanese Kenya Yamashita in a bantamweight contest. He again won by knockout.
Later, under the guidance of Manny Pacquiao Promotion, chiefly Sean Gibbons, he was given the break to fight for the WBO interim bantamweight title versus Mexican Ricardo Espinoza Franco on April 2019 in Carson, California USA.
With a predominantly Mexican pro Espinoza crowd in attendance, Casimero fought hammer and tongs against the tough Mexican for most of eleven rounds. Eventually, Johnriel prevailed in the attrition war, knocking down Espinoza twice in the final round forcing a stoppage.
The WBO called for the interim title fight with its regular South African world champion Zolani Tete engaged in the WBSS tournament.
With the WBO interim title tucked under his belt, Johnriel returned to the Philippines to prepare for his next fight. It happened in September 2019 at the San Andres Gym in Manila where he successfully defended his interim crown by knocking out Mexican challenger Cesar Ramirez in a fight seen live on television and opened free to the public courtesy of fighting Senator Manny Pacquiao.
Tete had by then already withdrawn from the WBSS tournament after suffering a training injury while preparing for his supposed semi final match versus Nonito Donaire. With him freed from that commitment and already healed fully from injury, the WBO deemed it proper and necessary to match him against Casimero in defense of his regular WBO crown and as preparation for unification versus Inoue or Oubaali in 2020.
The fight was set November 30, 2019 in Birmingham in the UK which is Tete's adopted second home and therefore Zolani had the hometown advantage.
Johnriel, the grizzled road warrior that he has been since winning his first world title at light flyweight in Argentina some years ago, is used to fighting before hostile crowd and as underdog at that.
In what was one of the biggest upsets that year, Casimero pulled off a third round knockout victory over the taller, heavy favorite Tete, becoming the new WBO regular world bantamweight champion.
The victory did not escape the eyes of Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum who contracted Casimero to be Naoya Inoue"s next opponent in his planned grand championship reintroduction of the Japanese fighter to American boxing boxing fans in a main event triple world title unification fight in the US.
The bout was originally penciled for April 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. To prepare for the fight, Casimero and his camp left the Philippines earlier on February 2020 and were forced to stay there when the coronavirus pandemic occurred, restricting international travel and suspending many human activities and endeavors, pro boxing included.
As a result, the original Inoue-Casimero fight schedule was canceled and had to be rescheduled for a later date if and when pro boxing was allowed to resume in the USA. Casimero and his camp decided to extend their stay in the US and awaited the arrival of Inoue so that with Arum, a new fight schedule could be arranged.
Boxing resumed in the US in June largely through the efforts of Arum who instituted a bubble approach in his fight promotions. But no Inoue arrived citing strict Japanese travel protocols and US visa restrictions as reasons. Meanwhile no words were heard from Arum regarding the new fight date.
In August when Inoue finally arrived in the USA, Arum in a press announcement claimed that he could not arrange the fight because of restrictions on live audience arena fights and that he could only proceed with the bout if Casimero agree to a purse cut to which Inoue allegedly agreed to which could not be independently confirmed.
Casimero's camp awaited for formal words from Arum but they were never approached nor contacted.
Later, they learned that Arum with alleged consent of Inoue, had dropped Casimero and replaced him with Australian challenger Jason Moloney. The justification was that Moloney deserved the shot as he was on a three win streak since losing on points in a failed IBF title try against Emmanuel Rodriguez but the same Rodriguez lasted less than three rounds versus Inoue!
So Inoue fought Moloney in October title defense and as expected disposed of the Australian in eight rounds.
Left holding an empty bag, Casimero camp had no other recourse but to look for a fight of their own in the US so that their wait won't be wasted and the expenses they had incurred could somehow be recompensed. Through the efforts of Sean Gibbons, they managed to be included in an upcoming big promotion with Johnriel defending his WBO title against Ghana's undefeated challenger Duke Micah.
Johnriel vented his ire and frustration on Micah and proceeded to stop the Ghanaian inside three rounds to keep his title.
Since then Johnriel has lambasted Inoue and Arum in any available fora dissing them for ducking him. He even called Inoue as no Monster but a Japanese Turtle, to which Naoya has reportedly taken offense.
His US sojourn however was not entirely forgettable as he managed to mend fence after a protracted contractual dispute with Morris East who in an out of court settlement
was affirmed to be still his legal manager until early 2022.
Johnriel was also able to leave quite an impression with both American boxing promoters and fans that recently Premier Boxing Champions lined him up for a main event fight against WBA secondary champion Guillermo Rigondeaux on August 14, 2021 in Carson City.
That fight almost hit a snag when Nonito Donaire was enlisted to replace Rigondeaux for what promoters see as a better match up involving two regular world titlists, and both popular Filipino fighters at that. But Donaire pulled out on account of alleged unprofessional behavior of Casimero and his camp and dispute over drug testing.
Now it is back to Casimero versus Rigondeaux on August 14 with mainly Johnriel's WBO title at stake against the old Cuban defensive master also known as the Jackal.
Johnriel is aiming for another impressive victory that would put Inoue or Donaire back firmly on his cross hair for ultimate supremacy in the storied bantamweight division.
To be continued
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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