Nothing clear; it’s still OK
There’s nothing sure if the colorful Filipino road warrior Johnriel Casimero, reigning WBO bantamweight champion, has decided to stay in Las Vegas to wait indefinitely for his next big fight against the celebrated Naoya Inoue of Japan.
A previous report said Casimero, with no clear signal on the triple bantamweight unification championship, was all set to go the way of his trainer Nonoy Neri, who has reportedly returned to the Philippines.
There was some excitement over the scheduled fight early Friday of Filipino Mark Bernaldez, raring to duplicate countryman Mike Plana’s resounding upset of John Greer Jr., a top-rated world bantamweight title contender last week.
Another boxing item said Nonito Donaire, 37, was awaiting a go signal for his crack at the WBC bantamweight champion Nordine Oubaali of France.
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As we went to press, a report from Las Vegas said Bernaldez suffered a unanimous shutout loss in Top Rank’s “Boxing is Back Live” program.
The most notable development for Filipino boxing campaigners abroad remained the arrival of knockout artist Mark Magsayo (20-0, with 14 KOs) in Las Vegas.
Veteran boxing writer Nick Giongco said Magsayo took a giant step towards securing a significant fight in the United States.
Magsayo, 25, is expected to link up with trainer Freddie Roach at the Wild Card gym in Hollywood. Magsayo is now handled by MP (Manny Pacquiao) Promotions.
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Out in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), league officials and players had remained stuck waiting for advice from authorities on whether team training could be started. Streets fans, eager as they were for PBA games, have started to wonder how the league could be put back into place.
“We are very positive and our players are very hopeful that we can start. They know we are protecting their own health and interest of their family with the protocols we’ve put together,” PBA chair Ricky Vargas said.
Shortly before noon yesterday, it was announced that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has approved the PBA request to hold team practices.
Vargas swore it was a big step toward their goal to resume the league at least by October. No clear or solid details however how the PBA could really be back.
But as presidential spokesperson Harry Roque claimed, the Duterte administration has been doing wonders.
Many people didn’t agree. But everything’s A-OK, if we are to believe the Palace.
