Tag Archives: john riel casimero
Manny Pacquiao On John Riel Casimero Vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux: “It Was Like Manny Pacquiao Vs. Floyd Mayweather”
By: Hans Themistode
Manny Pacquiao sensed deja vu as he sat back in his palatial estate to watch Guillermo Rigondeaux take on his fellow Filipino countrymen, and WBO bantamweight titlist, John Riel Casimero. The two faced off this past Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park, in Carson California.
Before entering the ring, both men gave off the illusion that their contest would be action-packed. While Casimero did his best to hold up his end of the bargain, Rigondeaux was constantly on the move.
In the end, what resulted was a lackluster affair. With a grand total of 91 punches landed, Rigondeaux and Casimero set the record for the lowest amount of landed punches in CompuBox history.
As a fairly jam-packed crowd was dissatisfied with what they were watching, Pacquiao simply shook his head as he took a trip down memory lane.
“I’m glad that he retained his belt but the thing is, his opponent didn’t want to fight him,” said Pacquiao. “It was like Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather.”
After forcing the world to wait countless years, Pacquiao and Mayweather faced off in what was considered, “the fight of the century.” Although neither man was at the top of their games, they were still considered pound-for-pound stalwarts.
The anticipation was thick and the attention on their showdown was high. But ultimately, in the mind of many, they produced a dud of an event. In total, Mayweather landed 148 of the 435 total punches he threw that night. Pacquiao, on the other hand, was less efficient, nailing Mayweather a total of 81 times while missing a combined 348 of his shots.
Unlike his countrymen, Pacquiao failed to pick up the win. But while he was thrilled that Casimero retained his super bantamweight title, in the end, Pacquiao wasn’t thrilled with the lack of action.
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John Riel Casimero: “(Naoya) Inoue, See You Soon, Easy Work”
By: Hans Themistode
By all accounts, the performance of Naoya Inoue was breathtaking.
The unified bantamweight champion made it look incredibly easy this past weekend against mandatory challenger Michael Dasmarinas. Three rounds were all Inoue needed at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A crushing body shot sent Dasmarinas down to the canvas early on. And while he would rise to his feet a few seconds later, Inoue made him fold with another shot to the midsection, ending the night. Immediately following the win, fans that were in the arena stood on their feet and cheered for the Japanese fighter. Yet, John Riel Casimero, WBO belt holder, sat stoically in his seat, unimpressed and appeared to be restraining himself from yawning.
The Filipino product has called for a showdown against Inoue for a number of years now. Even with the pound-for-pound star flat-lining his most recent opponent, Casimero (30-4, 21 KOs) believes he’ll take care of business against Inoue without much trouble.
“It was a good performance but easy work,” said Casimero during an interview with FightHype.com.
For as badly as Casimero wants to get his hands on Inoue (21-0, 18 KOs), he’ll first have to take care of business in his next ring appearance. After agreeing to take on the highly skilled former two-time Olympic Gold medalist, Guillermo Rigondeaux on August 14th, Casimero was notified of a sudden change in opponent. Now, the 32-year-old is set to take on current WBC titlist, Nonito Donaire (41-6, 27 KOs). The 38-year-old became the oldest bantamweight champion of all time recently, as he stopped former belt holder Nordine Oubaali just a few weeks ago.
With a future first-ballot Hall of Famer now standing directly in front of him, Casimero claims to be giving him his undivided attention. While he didn’t guarantee a win against him, as he did with Inoue, Casimero does believe that once he straps Donaire’s WBC title around his waist, a showdown against Inoue will be inevitable.
“I will do my best to win. Inoue, See you soon.”
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Nonito Donaire Replaces Guillermo Rigondeaux, Will Now Face John Riel Casimero On August 14th
By: Hans Themistode
After defying the odds by becoming the oldest bantamweight champion at the age of 38, Nonito Donaire will look to lace his shoulders with even more gold.
In an abrupt change of events, Donaire will now take on WBO titlist, John Riel Casimero on August 14th. Originally, Casimero was set to take on former champion, Guillermo Rigondeaux. The Cuban native isn’t injured but Al Haymon, head man in charge at Premier Boxing Champions, has decided to make a unification bout instead. Although Rigondeaux has been moved from the main event, he will still make an appearance on the undercard. Should he win against his new opponent, the crafty southpaw could face the winner of the new main event.
Donaire, as previously mentioned, become the oldest champion in bantamweight history just a few weeks ago. The 38-year-old walked into his showdown against Nordine Oubaali as a considerable underdog. Yet, it was the Filipino native who waltzed into Dignity Health Sports Park and laid a beating on the former champion. Oubaali would hit the deck twice in the third round and once more in the fourth before their contest was officially waved off. Ironically enough, if Donaire and Rigondeaux come out victorious, it’ll set up a rematch almost a decade in the making.
In April of 2013, Donaire, who held the WBA and WBO super bantamweight titles, took on Rigondeaux at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. While Donaire was considered a pound-for-pound star at the time, Rigondeaux easily outboxed him to win his world titles.
As for Casimero, he picked up his sixth stoppage win a row late last year as he destroyed fringe contender Duke Micah.
