Another foe likely for Casimero

For the record, Naoya Inoue never made it to the Uni­ted States for his showdown with Johnriel Casimero, originally scheduled in Las Vegas this weekend.

The unbeaten Japanese bantamweight sensation (19-0, 16 KOs) was held back by the coronavirus pandemic before he could leave for Las Vegas.

Casimero (24-4, with 20 KOs), on the other hand, arrived in Las Vegas from Miami on March 15.

The bout, a triple world bantamweight unification championship, was officially postponed the following day.

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Inoue holds the IBF and WBA bantamweight belts, Casimero is the WBO bantamweight champion.

Inoue had himself wished the bout would happen in Tokyo.

“I would say no,” said Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, as quoted by BoxingScene.

Arum added the coronavirus cases in Japan have really picked up.

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Arum could have also thought of staging shows without fans in attendance.

But in a fresh pronouncement, Arum said they might have to put Inoue-Casimero in the back burner.

Casimero has remained stuck in the United States.

“Perhaps we can talk to his people and do another fight for him,” Arum said.

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Actually, Arum confided, they had considered having Casimero going to Japan and doing the fight there.

“It’s no longer possible, and Inoue won’t be able to come here anytime soon,” Arum said.

The event was to have aired live on ESPN this weekend from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.