MANILA, Philippines ? Former titleholder Johnriel Casimero is confident that a different set of officials will lead to a different outcome in his rematch against IBF flyweight titleholder Amnat Ruenroeng, which takes place Wednesday, May 25 at the Diamond Court in Beijing, China.
Their first fight, which took place last June in Ruenroeng?s home country of Thailand, was marred by the dubious officiating of obscure American referee Larry Doggett, who called a knockdown against the Filipino fighter after the hometown fighter pushed him into the ropes, and denied a knockdown call against Ruenroeng in round 3, despite being produced by a punch.
The referee allowed Ruenroeng to slam Casimero to the canvas repeatedly without penalty, which factored in the IBF?s decision to grant the request of Casimero?s promoters Sampson Lewkowicz and Sammy Gello-ani to remain as Ruenroeng?s mandatory challenger.
This time around, the IBF is going with a familiar name to referee the bout ? longtime Nevada official Tony Weeks ? while the three judges appointed will be Robin Taylor of New York, Deon Dwarte of South Africa and Steve Weisfeld of New Jersey, IBF Championships Chairman Lindsey Tucker tells RingTV.
The fight will headline a card which takes place at the IBF Annual Convention, meaning the sanctioning body?s most influential eyes will see firsthand if the action again takes an ugly turn.
?I?m excited for our fight. I hope the referee won?t allow the same dirty tactics like what happened before,? says Casimero (21-3, 13 knockouts) of Ormoc City, Philippines.
?The dirty tricks counted for a lot. It could have been the chance of Casimero but the third man in the ring was not able to do his job properly at the expense of Casimero. It could have been different if Larry Doggett stopped the behavior of Ruenroeng. We don?t mind losing as long as the fight is clean and clear,? added Gello-ani.
An email to Ruenroeng?s promoter Jimmy Chaichotchuang seeking comment was not returned by time of publication.
The 26-year-old Casimero, a former IBF junior flyweight titleholder, has been inactive in the 11 months since their first meeting, passing up opportunities that might risk him losing his mandatory ranking. The 36-year-old Ruenroeng (17-0, 5 KOs) has fought once since, pounding out a unanimous decision over Myung Ho Lee in December.
Casimero spent the beginning of training camp preparing in the isolated town of Baliangao in the southern Philippines before relocating to Yraola Boxing Gym in Metro Manila with trainer Jhun Agrabio for the past month, sparring with boxers from the Penalosa Gym. Gello-ani says the team is set to leave for Beijing on Sunday.
The fight will be Ruenroeng?s sixth title defense and China will be the seventh country in which the road warrior Casimero will have fought.
?(Casimero) knows that (this could be his last opportunity) and that?s what he?s very enthusiastic about this fight,? said Gello-ani. ?Casimero is longing for a big fight and the stepping stone to this is a big win against Ruenroeng.?
Same song, different year for Sonsona
The undercard will feature former WBC strawweight titleholder Chao Zhong Xiong ? the only Chinese fighter to ever win a pro boxing world title ? against Colombian fighter Jose Antonio Jimenez in a 12-round fight.
Who won?t be on the undercard ? but could have been ? is former WBO junior bantamweight titleholder Marvin Sonsona, who has been inactive since an uninspiring decision win over Jonathan Arrellano in June of 2015. The 25-year-old featherweight from General Santos City, Philippines, who is also handled by Gello-ani and Lewkowicz, continues to frustrate his handlers.
Sonsona?s career has been marred by inactivity by Sonsona caused by his lack of dedication (some say interest) to boxing.
?Honestly we have been doing our job for him but he has not been so serious in training,? said Gello-ani.
?He could have been the undercard of Casimero in China but the problem with the boy is he shows up and then, after that, no more. Training once or twice a week, that?s not enough. That?s not serious training.
?We have done a lot of things in the past; we have sacrificed our time, our effort. It?s just nothing for him. We can produce another world championship fight but he has to come back with serious training.?
