Ex Foes Casimero, Sultan Share Ring, Both Won, Saving Week for Pinoy Pugs
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 16 Aug 2021
Casimero (R) and Rigondeaux in action Saturday in California.
On a weekend that saw five Filipino fighters in action atop sunder American rings, familiar former foes Johnriel Casimero and Jonas Sultan had the rare opportunity to fight in the same square arena with both posting contrasting wins that saved the day for Pinoy Ring campaigners.
Casimero never thought of a turkey shootout but neither did he expect a bout long wild goose chase against notorious Cuban nullifier Guillermo Rigondeaux but he showed enough patience and aggression to gain the nod of two of the three judges.
By posting a hard gained split decision victory, Casimero thus successfully defended his WBO world bantamweight title at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson City, California. He also gained the distinction as the first fighter within 118-122 lbs. to defeat the stylist Cuban two time former Olympic gold medalist and undisputed world super bantamweight champion.
In losing only for the second time in his pro career, Rigondeaux surprisingly showed more awe and respect to Casimero than he did in his failed attempt to win the super featherweight crown versus the majestic Vasiliy Lomachenko three divisions higher.
Statistics really could be deceiving. On paper, with his three inches advantage in both height and reach and perceived edge in skill and parity in power, Rigondeaux was seen to dazzle and frustrate the flat footed Filipino before boxing his ears off or even floor him for the count or for good in the later rounds.
But in reality, it was Casimero who loomed even larger than the visibly cowed Cuban who as the Casimero camp had expected rode his bicycle from the moment he tasted the Filipino's power in the opening round.
Casimero's determination and aggression for an early knockout produced a knockdown in the very first round but the referee ruled it as slip despite the Cuban getting clipped in the head ala Zolani Tete, the erstwhile highly regarded South African from whom Casimero wrest the WBO title in late 2019 via 3rd round knockout.
From then on, Rigondeaux was on the run with Casimero in hot pursuit until the final bell. That summed up the story of the supposedly world title fight which was lustily booed by the crowd who paid good money to see a fight not a marathon. Thus, Casimero retained his crown for the second time as he looked forward to unification matches against WBC titlist Nonito Donaire and WBA-IBF kingpin Naoya Inoue.
In the undercard, Jonas Sultan, the last man to beat Casimero in 2018, showed promise by brutally manhandling his American opponent Sharone Carter into a fourth round knockout defeat.
Sultan who was fighting for only the first time at bantamweight, lost no time in asserting himself against Carter who has even fought as high as the super bantamweight.
The win does not put Sultan in the mix but he served notice that he could be a power to be reckoned with in the division.
The twin victory made up for the loss by veteran Raymond Tabugon who lost by retirement to former world bantamweight titlist Juan Carlos Payano in another undercard.
Two other Filipino fighters figured in the undercard of another manner at Hard Rock in Tulsa, Oklahoma featuring the rubber match between Joshua Franco of the US and Andrew Moloney of Australia for the WBA secondary belt at super flyweight which Franco won emphatically on points.
Former world featherweight title challenger Genesis Servania suffered his first career knockout loss, succumbing to the power of the undefeated American lightweight Andres Cortes in the very first round of their scheduled 8 round super featherweight bout.
Another erstwhile heralded Filipino featherweight Richard Pumicpic started strong in his bout but failed to sustain his effort in losing by unanimous decision to Puerto Rican super featherweight Abraham Nova.
It could be said that Servania and Pumicpic and also Tabugon were fighting foes way above their weight class, a sure red flag for future matchmaking.
Next weekend, two more Pinoys led by Senator Manny Pacquiao will see action atop American ring with Pacquiao facing another Cuban Yordenis Ugas for the WBA welterweight super title, ironically the same belt he had won back in 2019 from Keith Thurman but was stripped and handed on a silver platter to Ugas. Pacquiao vs. Ugás will air live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 22 (Sunday) at 9 AM on SKY Pay-Per-View.
In the undercard, another heralded Filipino featherweight Mark Magsayo will take on Mexican banger Julio Ceja for the WBO international featherweight title.
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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