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Philippines, 02 May 2024 |
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CASIMERO GOES INTO THE LION'S DEN TO DEFEND CROWN By Ed de la Vega, DDS PhilBoxing.com Sun, 22 Jul 2012  Johnriel Casimero received his IBF Junior Flyweight title last week. Not that he didn?t deserve it but I say ?received? because Casimero did not win the title outright. He won an ?eliminator? fight in Argentina against Luis Lazarte that gave him the designation of ?Challenger No 1? to the crown. The crown was held by Ulisis Solis of Mexico. Unfortunately Solis could not defend it against Casimero because he was still healing from a fractured jaw courtesy of 154 pound world champion, Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez. Alvarez allegedly punched Solis over a disagreement about a girl fracturing the jaw of the 108 pounder, Solis. With Solis unable to defend his title by the October deadline set by IBF, he was stripped of his title thus Casimero was declared the new champion by default. No sooner after he was advised that he is declared as the IBF Junior Lightweight champion, Casimero was immediately matched against a Mexican slugger who holds an 18-0-1, 13 KO record. His name is Pedro Guevera of Maztalan, Sinaloa, Mexico. Guevara is a prot?g? of former world champion, Eric Morales of Tijuana, Mexico. The Casimero- Guevarra Fight is scheduled at the Convention Center in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico, the home town of Guevarra in August 4, 2012. In paper that looks really good for Casimero. He will make some money immediately. Perhaps he will make more than he ever made before. But that may be the last time because if he does not win by a knockout, he may be a victim of a ?hometown decision?. I always wonder why do Filipino champions always have to travel far to distant lands to defend their titles? Not too long Sonny Boy Jaro had to go to Japan to defend his title. Of course he lost. Now, its Casimero?s turn. Why can?t our local Filipino promoters put the fight up in the Philippines and give the Filipino champions at least a psychological advantage. Don?t tell me it can?t be done. All it takes is a truly genuine desire and a commitment by the promoters to bite the bullet and put the fight up in the country. More importantly, the big corporations that provide immense financial support to other sports that don?t place the country in the international map should reassess their priorities and put more resources to allow our champions to defend their titles in the country. BriAn Viloria, Donnie Nietes and Nonito Doniare Jr., defended their titles in the mother country. Why even Manny Pacquiao once fought Oscar Larios at the Araneta Coliseum. Don?t champions like Jaro and Casimero deserve the same? Why do their handler allow such inequity to happen? A pundit told me that its all about money. ?They really do not look after their fighters they way they say they do,? he said. ?They will allow them to fight even at a disadvantage in the hometown of the challenger just so they can make money off the fight,? he added. ?They would not put the hard work and invest some money on their fighters so that they can fight in the country. They would rather have them fight abroad even at the challenger?s home town just so they can cash in quickly? the pundit said further. That is pathetic, to say the least! Until these handlers and promoters take a serious look at making these title fights in the Philippines, we will continue to see ?short time champions?. Is that good enough for us? Post Script: With Casimero fighting in Mexico, I hope his handlers will allow him to come to Mexico early, say at least two weeks, to give him time to acclimatize and minimize the perils of jet lag. We don?t want to him to experience the same misfortune experienced by Fernando Lumacad. Part of the reason Lumacad lost to Hernan Marquez in Mexico last week was because he was jet lagged. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.  |
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