John Riel Casimero emerged victorious in his homecoming bout following a unanimous decision nod over Fillipus Nghitumbwa to claim the WBO Global Super Bantamweight Title last Saturday, May 13 at Okada Manila in Paranaque City.
Casimero pressed the action right from the start throwing punches with bad intentions. Nghitumbwa, to his credit, proved to be a live underdog but was caught with a monstrous left hook that sent him crashing to the canvas in round six.
Nghitumbwa was able to beat the count and made it to the final bell, only to get deducted by a point in round two for hitting Casimero behind the head. All three judges saw the fight for Casimero after twelve rounds, the scorecards were 116-110, 116-110, and 114-112.
The event was promoted by Treasure Boxing Promotion in cooperation with Johnny Elorde Management International. Both parties agreed to co-promote more events after the much-attended show.
Former three-division world champion John Riel Casimero (33-4, 22KOs): “He took all my body shots and shook it off. As early as the first round I thought to myself, he is a durable guy. I tried to finish him early but did not want to be overconfident because he was prepared for the fight. I was surprised. I was getting hit with a jab because of his reach though he did not land easily because I see his punches. I worked on my timing because I felt that I cannot take him out right away so I needed to use angles to land my punches. He was waiting for my power punch so I had to play around before coming in. I stayed in front of him and did not allow him to distance himself because he also has power. A lot of people said that my opponent was going to be an easy fight, but we all saw how good he is and he was really prepared. I did my best and showcased that I can win the fight. I will let my manager and promoter arrange my next fight, I will let them decide if it is going to be Naoya Inoue or Ra’eese Aleem. I hope to become a world champion again.”
Jayson Casimero, brother and trainer of John Riel Casimero: “I instructed him to close the distance to not allow his opponent to throw punches. I told him to be savvy because Fillipus Nghitumbwa is a crafty fighter. I guess it is good that we finished the whole twelve rounds because it might make Naoya Inoue finally fight us.”
Masayuki Ito, CEO of Treasure Boxing Promotion: “It was a good, tough fight for John Riel Casimero and in the end, he won. Fillipus Nghitumbwa was a tough opponent. We will discuss the possibility of getting him a world title match and after that, there is the possibility of fighting Naoya Inoue. Now that Casimero won, we want to focus on the next fight around September or October. We are not sure of the next venue but upon seeing the crowd and the fans in the Philippines, we want more shows here. There will be more co-promotion with Johnny Elorde Management International because they were very helpful and the venue is amazing.”
Johnny Elorde, President of Johnny Elorde Management International: “I want to thank Masayuki Ito for giving us the opportunity to co-promote with him. He is good to be with in a promotion. If they will give us more co-promotions moving forward, we will do it.”
UNDERCARD RESULTS:
Weljon Mindoro SPLIT DRAW Takeshi Inoue
Vince Paras UD Ayumu Hanada
Jun Ikegawa SD Carlo Demecillo
Giemel Magramo TKO6 (1:25) Phissanu Chimsunthom
Arnel Baconaje UD12 Jhon Gemino
John Vincent Pangga TKO5 (1:41) Jonathan Francisco
Fight Game Asia 