Casimero expects easy win for Inoue against Moloney
NOT to belittle Naoya Inoue’s Australian rival, John Riel Casimero said it will be just a walk in the park for the “Japanese monster.” Casimero doesn’t see the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight champion Inoue losing at the hands of his latest challenger, Jason Moloney, on October 31 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In fact, he expects nothing but a sure knockout victory for his supposed opponent last April 25.
“I don’t see any sign for [Jason] Moloney to beat [Naoya] Inoue. Moloney will be surely knocked out,” the World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight titleholder told Businessmirror during an interview at the E-hotel in Makati City before he flew to his hometown in Can-untog, Ormoc City, recently.
“If Jason will not run, the fight will end in favor of Inoue. But I think he’ll run and won’t risk himself. He knows Inoue is a hard-hitting puncher,” said the 31-year- old Casimero, who did not accept Top Rank Bob Arum’s offer to fight Moloney (21-1 win-loss record with 18 knockouts) saying “it’s just an easy fight not worthy of his time.”
Casimero was originally scheduled to fight the unbeaten Inoue (19- 0 with 16 knockouts) last April. But the Covid-19 pandemic halted all sports events since mid-march, leading to the postponement nor cancellation of all the fights in the United States—including their unification bout.
He said Top Rank and Inoue’s camp were forced to agree to the fight but blamed the pandemic for its cancellation.
If Inoue refuses to fight Casimero (30- 4 with 21 knockouts), he said he will no longer chase the 27-year- old Japanese and move up instead to the super bantamweight class.
“We have plenty of opponents waiting there like Mexican Luis Nery and Cuban WBA regular bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux,” Casimero said. “They just used the pandemic as a reason not to fight me. We’re not going to chase him, they are simply afraid of me.”
“He [Inoue] is not the only fighter in the boxing world,” he added. But Casimero clarified it’s not Inoue who is afraid of him, but Top Rank. He said Bob Arum is avoiding him “because it’s definitely game over for Inoue’s career once they fight.”
Casimero plans to return to the US and train by January for another title defense after crushing previous foe Duke Micah of Ghana via a third-round technical knockout victory last September 26 in Connecticut.
For now, Casimero is completing his 14- day compulsory quarantine at the Bayview Hotel in Ormoc City before reuniting with his baby daughters
Princess Yuri and Ivana. Joseframos