CASIMERO LOSES BY 5TH ROUND TKO IN IBF WORLD TITLE FIGHT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 27 Mar 2011
Former WBO Interim light flyweight champion Johnreil Casimero has lost by a 5th round TKO in his IBF world title fight against champion Moruti ?Baby Face? Mthalane at the Nasrec Indoor Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa, Sunday morning Manila Time.
The Sunday Times of Johannesburg reported that Casimero ?quit somewhat unexpectedly after taking a few blows to the head? in a bout that was never a one-sided affair.
South African referee Wally Snowball called a halt at1:51 of the fifth round when Casimero quit.
The fight was a war in the early rounds with both fighters exchanging flurries and Casimero using his quick footwork to good effect.
Casimero connected with a four-punch combination in the third round that tested the usually solid defense of Mthalane who, urged on by his hometown fans, slowly worked his way back behind an effective right uppercut.
Sensing that Casimero was tiring, Mthalane stepped up his aggressiveness and ultimately nailed Casimero with a left jab and a quick right to the Filipino?s jaw to force Casimero to back off and call it quits.
Promoter Sammy Gello-ani told the Inquirer during the break in-between the third and fourth rounds, Casimero ?complained about his ribs but continued with a good round. Mthalane continued throwing body shots and during the 5th round Casimero dropped his mouth-guard and turned his back prompting the referee to stop the fight.?
Casimero reportedly told Gello-ani he ?couldn?t breathe.?
With the win Mthalane improved his record to 27-2 with 18 knockouts while Casimero suffered his second straight setback to drop to 14-2 with 8 knockouts.
Well known South African promoter Branco Milenkovic who promotes Mthalane had predicted that the champion would ?stop him (Casimero) in the later rounds? and that Mthalane had been training since December in preparation for a February fight that was postponed to make way for the big world title double-header.
Mthalane?s trainer Nick Durandt had also expressed confidence the title will remain in South Africa telling the media ?He (Casimero) doesn?t have what it takes to beat my little Zulu (Mthalane) over here.?
Mthalane won the title by beating Julio Cesar ?Pingo? Miranda, the current WBO champion in a twelve round unanimous decision on November 20, 2009 and defended the title successfully with a 5th round TKO over countryman Zolani Tete on January 9, 2010.
The little South African Mthalane is remembered for giving newly crowned WBC/WBO bantamweight champion Nonito ?The Filipino Flash? Donaire some problems before the referee called a halt in the 6th round after Mthalane was badly cut and bleeding in their IBF/IBO title fight on November 1, 2008. Milenkovic claimed that Mthalane was ?very unfortunate against Donaire to lose on cuts in round six after doing very well in rounds 4, 5 and 6.? The multi-titled promoter said ?we all know how good Nonito is and this should give the boxing world an idea of how good Moruti is.?
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