Overweight Casimero knocks out Fuentes

CEBU CITY—Johnriel Casimero may have lost his title, but he certainly wasn’t ready to lose his pride.

The spunky 24-year-old, stripped of his IBF light flyweight crown after tipping the scales five pounds over the 108 lb limit during the official weigh-in Friday, proved too strong in knocking out Mauricio Fuentes of Colombia in the first round Saturday night.

It was all over in 2:59 of the opening round as Casimero sent Fuentes down for the third time after punishing him with stiff uppercuts to the head and body.

The third knockdown left Fuentes crumpled in a heap and his cornermen rushed inside the ring to get him back on his feet as the lean crowd at Waterfront Hotel and Casino watched in awe.

The Filipino thus redeemed himself after the weigh-in fiasco and renewed his hope for a new world title in the heavier classes.

Casimero, now 20-2-0 with 12 knockouts, later issued a challenge to Filipino tormentor Juan Francisco Estrada of Mexico, the reigning WBO flyweight champ.

Estrada (26-2-0, 19 KOs) is known for having beaten Filipinos Brian Viloria (split decision, April 2013), Milan Melindo (unanimous decision, June 2013) and Richie Mepranum (TKO 10, April 2014).

Casimero weighed 113.25 lb last Friday and the title was declared vacant, although Fuentes would have been crowned champion had he won Saturday.

“I worked hard for the title. I also deeply regret losing it on the weighing scale,” said Casimero in Filipino. “Now I want to move on and try to open new chapter of my career at 112 lb.”

Fuentes, 24, slumped to 16-3-0 with 10 KOs.

Casimero said he did not expect to win easily. Though the expected large crowd was missing, he still came out firing on all cylinders.

The title fight was presented by TV 5 and promoted by Sammy Gello-ani and Omega Painkiller.