I have always felt uncomfortable seeing two Filipino fighters slug it out with a world title at stake.
Case in point was when Jerwin Ancajas defended the International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight crown against Jonas Sultan in Fresno more than a year ago. I thought I would get used to it, but when Donnie Nietes battled Aston Palicte in Los Angeles, it felt the same way.
And then I gave it another try when Pedro Taduran and Samuel Salva — small men with big fighting hearts — fought on local shores for the vacant IBF minimumweight crown.
Again, it didn’t feel right.
Just a few days ago, I did a story on Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, who told this paper that he is in the hunt for an opponent for his pride and joy, Japanese icon Naoya Inoue.
You see, Bob, energized by Inoue’s dismantling of Australian Jason Moloney during Halloween, said he is looking at a few out there who could end up sharing the stage with Inoue in March 2021.
Then, two names surfaced.
Those of Ancajas, who fights under the Top Rank banner, and John Riel Casimero, who isn’t under contact but almost saw action under the Las Vegas-based outfit last April until the coronavirus knocked his mouth-watering matchup with Inoue was scrapped.
Owing to the pandemic, Arum didn’t revisit doing Inoue versus Casimero citing the difficult times, travel restrictions and some other things.
Casimero, eager to fight, ended up defending his World Boxing Organization bantamweight belt against previously undefeated Ghanaian Duke Micah, who lasted less than three rounds last September in Connecticut.
Inoue did the same thing and tackled another foe in Moloney, who got bowled over by the Japanese heavy-hitter.
Casimero took note of the story that I did and shared it on social media.
Before I knew it, the fans and followers of Casimero and Ancajas, were the ones slugging it out.
Casimero included a rant in his post that was meant to taunt Arum and Ancajas.
The very outspoken Casimero, still hurting over the aborted Inoue bout, even suggested to Arum to pit Ancajas against him if he could not arrange an Inoue clash.
In the thread that followed, Casimero even backtracked a bit by saying that he doesn’t even feel that he will gain anything from facing Ancajas, who is now training in Los Angeles and waiting for a confirmed booking to fight.
Don’t get me wrong.
I love these guys. I covered all of Ancajas’ fights in the United States and Australia, interviewed him extensively, did lots of stories about him even during the off-season and even vacationed with him in Bangkok.
Ancajas has a heart of gold.
As for Casimero, we are dealing here with somebody who’s got a unique personality, someone we Filipinos are not accustomed to.
No wonder Casimero’s been getting a lot of flak for his trash talk.
But this guy has the confidence level of a Muhammad Ali or a Floyd Mayweather and if he loses, I don’t want to hear him offer any excuses.
So what if Arum suddenly decides to match them up?
Imagine the title of Ancajas versus Casimero: For Flag and Country.
You bet, I will be there at ringside and no longer feeling awkward and unsteady.
But don’t expect me to root for either one.
Besides, I am not supposed to, right?
