John Riel Casimero called out Naoya Inoue shortly after taking down Ghanaian challenger Duke Micah in a successful first defense of his WBO bantamweight crown on Sunday Manila time.
Casimero cruised to a third-round TKO victory over Micah at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, then made a profane-laced challenge on the Japanese boxer during the post-fight press conference.
“Inoue, common man. You’re a monster, m_____f_____? No, you’re no monster. You’re a Japanese turtle,” Casimero said while struggling to speak in straight English.
“You are not a monster, man. Inoue is scared of me. F___, m_____f_____. Common, you’re next,” added Casimero, who then made a slit throat gesture besides MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons.
Casimero and Inoue, the WBA and IBF bantamweight king, were supposed to fight in a unification fight last April 25 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the bout didn’t materialize, with Inoue picking New Zealand’s Jason Moloney for a clash set Oct. 31 in Las Vegas and Casimero choosing Micah.
The 30-year-old Casimero numerous times has lashed out at Inoue for trying to avoid him.
“He (will) fight Jason Moloney, but I don’t fight him because I know that’s easy for me and I want Inoue,” said Casimero.
Casimero improved to 30-4 with 21 knockouts after sending Micah to the canvas in the second round with a left hook to the temple.
The Ormoc native continued his onslaught on MIcah in the third round, prompting referee Steve Willis to stop the fight at 0:54.
So easy was Casimero’s victory that he even did push ups upon the referee stoppage.
It was an impressive showing for Casimero in his first appearance in front of a US pay-per-view audience (Showtime Boxing) as the fight served as the undercard of Jermall Charlo's unanimous decision win over Sergiy Derevyanchenko.