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Philippines, 14 Feb 2026 |
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Casimero Fights Nghitumbwa Saturday for WBO Global at Okada Manila; Naoya Inoue Could be Next By Carlos Costa PhilBoxing.com Tue, 09 May 2023  Popular Filipino former 3-division world champion John Riel Casimero (31-4, 21 KOs) will be back in action in a 12-round main event battle for the WBO Super Bantamweight Global title this coming Saturday, May 13, at Okada Manila. The warrior from Leyte will square off heavy-handed African Champ world-ranked #10 Filipus Nghitumbwa (12-1, 10 KO's) of Namibia, a fighter seven years younger than the Pinoy, wanting to return home still a champ. Will that happen? It will be Filipus's first fight outside of his native country Namibia, would that affect him? Meanwhile, the Ormocanon Casimero, who is represented by promoter former fighter Masayuki Ito, feels confident and at ease with his coming battle, and feeling satisfied as well with his new promoter, Ito. Ito and Casimero signed a promotional agreement 3 months ago as the Visayan fighter is in pursuit of the golden opportunity, the most important and biggest fight of his career: a clash against unbeaten Japanese sensational star 井上尚弥 Naoya "Monster" Inoue. Importantly, the super exciting Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KO's) will be challenging American unified WBC/WBO 122 world champion Stephen Fulton (21-0, 8 KO's) on July 25 at the Ariake Arena, Koto-Ku, Japan. It is a tough fight for Naoya. Because, as good as he indeed is, he will be fighting at a superior weight-class, the super bantamweights, where punches are heavier and where the opponent, undefeated champion Stephen Fulton, is absolutely a fighter of class and skills that can not be taken lightly. BUT, if the thrilling Japanese "Monster" manages to defeat Fulton - as many fans in the Philippines and Japan hope - then a clash of trains between Naoya Inoue and Johnriel Casimero appears so bright in the horizon.  For that, Casimero needs a BRILLIANT performance against his African global champion opponent. Will Casimero shine bright on May 13 in Manila? That we need to find out! Interestingly, promoter Oscar De La Hoya, head of Golden Boy Promotions and Bob Arum's Top Rank gave Casimero offers for the Filipino to sign a contract with them. But Casimero preferred to sign a 3-fight contract with Masayuki Ito. "Quadro Alas" feels happy with him. But was it a good idea? It seems so. However, a number of fans might think: Casimero has had how many managers and how many promoters in his career, including at some point Sammy Gello-Ani and even MP Promotions, Sean Gibbons used to handle him not that long ago, and many more in between? But I think that is ok. Because a fighter has the right to change teams and change coaches, managers or promoters as he/she wishes to. For example, most recently, the super popular Ryan Garcia split with trainer Joe Goossen after losing to Gervonta Davis April 22. Before Goossen, Ryan was with Eddie Reynoso. Then changed to Dan, and he wants to go back to Reynoso, or maybe someone else. That is Ryan's right. It's ok for a boxer to work with the people he feels comfortable with. Right? In fact, we in our lives should hang out and work and share time with people we feel comfortable with. And we can change if that is needed. And that is what the always popular Casimero has done, and it's alright. About this coming fight, it's worth remembering that Casimero's most recent fight took place in the South Korean city of Incheon in December 2022 when he defeated Japanese Ryo Akaho via TKO in the 2nd stanza in a boxing event organized there by Masayuki Ito. It's easy to imagine that those 3 fights that Casimero want with Ito are: Akaho, then Filipus Nghitumbwa (this Saturday), and the next one, Naoya Inoue? Will you attend CASIMERO's fight on Saturday? Or at least watch it on TV or online? I will. "Quadro Alas" battle against the tough African warrior is this coming and he needs the support of his fans. It will all unfold at Okada Manila, the plush resort and casino located in Entertainment City in Paranaque, Metro Manila. The WBO supervisor for Casimero's rumble will be Tsuyoshi Yasukochi of Japan. The title on the line is the WBO Global Super Bantamweight Belt. Will Casimero conquer the night for a likely fight against "Monster" Naoya Inoue next? John Riel Casimero vs Filipus Nghitumbwa and its co-feature Takeshi Inoue vs Weljon Mindoro can be watched live on FITE TV PPV: www.fite.tv. Price tag: $19.99 dollars (about PHP 1,100 pesos). Fans in the Philippines can watch live on PTV. Good luck to the action warriors, May the Best Men Win! The author of this story is veteran boxing reporter Carlos Costa of Panama. Carlos can be reached at carlos@philboxing.com and whatsapp +639184538152. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Carlos Costa.  |
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