In the aftermath of Nonito Donaire’s sensational win, a little-known Filipino fighter stands to complete a rare feat when he attempts to upset Naoya Inoue on 19 June in Las Vegas.
At the moment, two Filipino boxers reign as champion in the star-studded bantamweight division: John Riel Casimero and Donaire.
Casimero holds the World Boxing Organization (WBO) jewels while Donaire just snatched the World Boxing Council (WBC) title two days ago.
Mandatory challenger Dasmariñas gets the chance to become the next Filipino titlist when he meets Inoue with the Japanese’s World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) belts on the line.
If Dasmariñas stuns the world by beating Inoue, that would make the 118-lb category the domain of the Filipino punchers, something that has never happened in the long history of Philippine boxing.
Interestingly, Casimero and Donaire don’t mind facing off against each other even if they are compatriots.
Moments after stopping Nordine Oubaali to win the WBC diadem, Donaire expressed his desire to collect all the belts at bantamweight.
Casimero has also made it known that boxing is business and if there is a call to face a fellow Filipino, he won’t think twice about signing up to fight.
Should Inoue prevent Dasmariñas from pulling it off, he is left with two legitimate threats to his throne as the acknowledged king of the bantams.
Casimero has been itching to lay his hands on Inoue while Donaire is close to begging to earn another shot so he can exact payback.
In November 2019, Inoue had to dig deep into his bagful of tricks in repulsing the challenge of Donaire, who almost became the very first boxer to put a stain on Inoue’s pristine record.
Either way, Inoue has two solid opponents to contend with in his quest to unify the belts.
You’ve got a pair of poisonous snakes lurking around: Casimero and Donaire.
If Dasmariñas ends up black and blue, expect retaliation from either one of them.
