Casimero eager to put Inoue’s toughness to the test

FILE – Filipino boxer John Riel Casimero. INQUIRER PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Much has been said about Naoya Inoue’s steely resolve after he beat Nonito Donaire in their 12-round slugfest despite sustaining a fractured orbital in the second round.

John Riel Casimero, however, doesn’t seem to be that impressed with Inoue’s toughness and would rather see it for himself when he challenges the unbeaten Japanese in a bantamweight title unification showdown on April 26 in Las Vegas.

“He’s good and I really need to prepare hard against him. But let’s see just how tough Inoue really is,” Casimero, the WBO champion, said in Filipino in a press conference Wednesday.

He is set to fly Thursday to the US where he will link up with renowned Mexican strength and conditioning coach Angel “Memo” Heredia for training camp in Miami, Florida.

The 26-year-old Inoue, who holds the WBA (Super) and IBF belts, suffered a nasty cut above his right eye off a cracking left hook from Donaire that also caused the fracture in the second round and also had a broken nose during the bout.

Yet, Inoue still got the better of Donaire, whom he fended off for a unanimous decision win last November in Saitama, Japan.

Casimero, though, believes the result will be different when he hits Inoue with the same punch that Donaire did.

“He (Inoue) won’t be able to recover from it,” Casimero, who turns 30 on Feb. 13, said.

“From what I saw during his fight against Donaire is that Donaire lacked the finishing in the second round. He should’ve kept coming but he let Inoue tie him up.”