John Riel Casimero admits getting tired of being asked the same old question about Naoya “Monster” Inoue.
Just a few days into his Las Vegas camp, Casimero was approached by bystanders and hardcore fight fans alike, wondering when they could witness the collision of the two heavy-hitters. The question, though asked in a variety of ways, has a familiar ring to it: When are you fighting The Monster?
“Everywhere I go, that’s the questions people ask me about,” Casimero told Daily Tribune while chilling out in his rented Las Vegas home with point man Marc Lontayao.
“I keep telling myself that they shouldn’t be asking me because I am ready to fight him anywhere. They should ask him instead,” Casimero said, two months before meeting Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux at Dignity Health Sports Pak on 14 August in Carson, California.
When he attended a Top Rank show last Saturday, he approached Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum but mumbled when he finally came face-to-face with the legendary fight figure. “Give me Bob Arum,” Casimero told Arum as he explained the reason behind the mix-up.
“What I wanted to say was ‘Mr. Arum, give me Naoya Inoue.’ But there were so many people getting near me asking for pictures and asking about when I should fight Inoue.”
While it appears that Casimero is consumed by Inoue, the Leyte-born power-puncher says he remains focused on beating Rigondeaux so the public will put more pressure on Arum to revisit the Inoue showdown.
Had it not been for the pandemic, Casimero and Inoue would have slugged it out in April 2020.
When the United States began easing up restrictions, Arum took a different route for Inoue and paired him with Australian Jason Moloney.
Casimero was likewise forced to entertain other options and wound up beating Ghanaian Duke Micah.
If Inoue repulses Filipino mandatory challenger Michael Dasmarinas this weekend and Casimero gets past Rigondeaux, the clamor will get stronger for Arum to revisit the bout. “I don’t care if I fight him even inside his house,” Casimero said.
