Casimero wants ‘Chocolatito’ next
INTERNATIONAL Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight king John Riel Casimero has crept back into the consciousness of Filipino fight fans following his sensational 10th-round stoppage of British challenger Charlie Edwards before a highly partisan crowd Sunday at O2 Arena in London.
Casimero arrived in the country on Monday and said he wanted to see his idol, President Duterte, in Malacañang.
The 26-year-old Casimero displayed his ring savvy and a variety of punches to defeat the 22-year-old Edwards, who took his first loss in nine bouts.
Immediately after the fight, Casimero— who now sports a 23-3 record with 15 knockouts—called out newly crowned WBC super flyweight champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez of Nicaragua to a fight.
According to Casimero’s team manager, Sammy Gello-ani, they will plan the Gonzalez challenge and that if it pushes through it will be held in November this year.
Gonzalez defeated Brian Viloria via a ninth-round TKO in October last year in the undercard of the middleweight unification bout between Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The referee ended the fight after Gonzalez hit Viloria with a big right punch to the face that staggered the Filipino-American.
Gonzalez set the tone of the fight by knocking down Viloria in the third round.
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Donnie “Ahas” Nietes, the longest-reigning Filipino world champion, has challenged Gonzalez twice, the second after the Nicaraguan champion dominated Viloria.
Nietes now trains at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles of trainer Freddie Roach for his first Sept. 24 fight against Mexico’s Edgar Sosa at StubHub Center in Carson City.
Nietes relinquished his World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior flyweight title to campaign in the flyweight class.
Before he left for the United States, Nietes told sportswriters that he has grown comfortable in the flyweight and is excited about his coming fight.
Sosa is ranked No. 4 in the World Boxing Council (WBC) where Chocolatito is the reigning champion.
