Casimero has a lot of catching up to do
THE thing with John Riel Casimero, until he actually steps into the boxing ring, is there’s always the possibility that his fight will not push through.
When one says “barring a lastminute mishap,” that’s when the mishap happens for Casimero. At the last-minute.
On two occasions, Casimero failed to show up for a scheduled title defense against British Paul Butler. Casimero was supposed to defend his WBO bantamweight title against Butler in December 2021, but the fight was scrapped when he allegedly contracted viral gastritis. It was rescheduled to April 2022, but the fight failed to materialize again after the British Boxing Board of Control refused to sanction it following the discovery that Casimero was trying to cut off weight in a sauna.
The WBO, fed up with Casimero’s shenanigans, stripped him of the WBO bantamweight (118 lbs) hardware. Butler defeated Filipino Jonas Sultan on April 22, 2022, to win the interim WBO belt. A few weeks later, the WBO elevated Butler to full-fledged world bantamweight champion. Butler is now booked to face WBA-WBC-IBF champion Naoya “The Monster” Inoue of Japan on December 3 for the undisputed bantamweight title.
As can be deduced, Casimero would have been Inoue’s foe on December 3, not Butler, had he stayed the course.
As things stand, Casimero has no world title to show and has been inactive since August 2021, when he defeated Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux via a lackluster decision for the WBO bantamweight plum. Casimero’s ranking has plummeted and he may have to start from scratch all over again.
Casimero, 31-4 with 21 knockouts, plans to hit the comeback trail on December 3, in a junior featherweight (122 lbs), non-title fight opposite Japanese veteran Ryo Akaho of Japan. The fight will be staged at the Paradise City Hotel in Incheon, South Korea.
Akaho is already 36 years old and has failed in previous bids for the WBC junior bantamweight (115 lbs) and WBO bantamweight titles. Akaho’s last title shot came in August 2015, in Thailand, when he was stopped in just two rounds by hometown boy Pungluang Sor Singyu for the vacant WBO bantamweight title.
Pungluang employed a lot of dirty tactics, notably punches to the back of the head that the referee inexplicably ignored. When Pungluang hurt Akaho in the second round, the Thai landed several low blows and another foul blow to the back of the head that caused Akaho to lose his balance. Akaho was defenseless when Pungluang landed a series of punches that sent the Japanese to the canvas. Akaho never recovered and the referee waived the fight over. This was Akaho’s only loss by knockout.
Akaho strongly rebounded from the loss to Pungluang by winning his next 13 fights, 8 by knockout. Last September 3, Akaho stopped in just one round Filipino Edrin Dapudong. Akaho came out with both guns blazing and nailed Dapudong with a solid left hook to the head, sending the Filipino to the canvas with a resounding thud. Dapudong was counted out.
Akaho’s 13-fight winning streak has allowed him to return to the top 10 rankings of the WBO in the junior featherweight class. The Japanese totes a record of 39-2, 2 draws with 26 knockouts.
Akaho holds knockout victories over Filipinos Richard Garcia (KO 2, March 2014), Jecker Buhawe (KO 6, November 2013) and Elmar Francisco (KO 4, June 2013).
Akaho packs a wallop in both fists and is known to be a fast starter. However, his all-out, freeswinging style leaves him with a very porous defense, something Casimero will look to exploit.
Still, it will not be a surprise if Akaho comes out swinging at the sound of the opening bell because he knows Casimero has accumulated a lot of ring rust. Akaho will look to launch a sneak attack on Casimero.
Casimero is definitely taking on a serious challenge in his ring return. The former champ picked Akaho who is on a roll lately. Fight fans can only hope that the fight will not encounter any hiccups. Akaho also has a reputation of failing to make the weight and this leaves his condition an enigma, too. The Japanese is an all-action boxer though and an exciting showdown with Casimero is almost a certainty.
Keep your fingers crossed, guys. As aforementioned, in the case of Casimero, one has to actually see him climbing the ropes before it can be safely said that the fight is happening.