Casimero may settle for another foe

MANILA, Philippines — It’s still not certain when super WBA/IBF bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue will arrive in Las Vegas and his appointment with WBO titleholder JohnRiel Casimero remains in the wait list but MP Promotions head Sean Gibbons said the other day if the triple unification duel doesn’t happen soon, the Filipino might just defend his crown, maybe in October, to stay active.

Casimero, 31, landed in the US last February to begin training for the Japanese star called “The Monster.” He got himself ready in Miami with strength and conditioning coach Memo Heredia then moved to Las Vegas where the fight was originally scheduled on April 25. When the pandemic struck, the bout was postponed to July 25 – today – but it also fizzled out.

Gibbons said Inoue’s not dodging Casimero. “Nope, The Monster ain’t running scared,” he said. “He wants the fight to happen just as badly as Casimero. But Uncle Bob (Arum) is thinking economics. He doesn’t think it’s wise to hold such a big fight without an audience so Top Rank is holding back. I can understand why. You’re not going to get the Japanese high-rollers to fly in until we’ve knocked out the pandemic.”

There is talk that Inoue might get travel clearance to fly from Japan to the US early next month but it may not be to fight Casimero. “Let’s see what happens because the situation is so fluid,” said Gibbons. “Casimero’s getting impatient.” Casimero’s chief trainer Nonoy Neri joined the training camp in Miami last March but has returned to Davao with no fight date in the calendar. Neri said he’ll go back to the US once a fight for Casimero is confirmed.

Casimero isn’t lying idle even as no fight appears to be in the horizon and continues to work out at Bones Adams’ gym in Las Vegas. He recently moved out of his four-bedroom rented home in the Las Vegas suburbs to live closer to Gibbons’ own home with Heredia and trainer Sugar Ting Ariosa. Casimero’s brother Jason stays in another house with friends.

Gibbons said if the Inoue fight stays hazy, he’ll arrange a title defense for Casimero. “No opponent yet,” he said. “If we can’t lock down Inoue, we’ll find somebody else for a title defense so Casimero can earn some money to take back home before the year ends. It’s a tough situation but we’re moving forward. We want Casimero-Inoue to happen. It’ll be an awesome fight. If it doesn’t happen this year, it will happen in 2021.”

Gibbons said the pandemic has dramatically changed the landscape for boxing. “It’s been a really hard trying times the last four months and it seems like four years of nightmare,” he said. “So many ups and downs but everyone has their problems.”