WBO bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero is willing to travel to Japan and fight undefeated Japanese icon Naoya Inoue in a much-anticipated mega-bout, said Manny Pacquiao (MP) Promotions president Sean Gibbons.
"Let me put it this way. The guy’s (Casimero) been to nine countries, won three world titles in nine different countries," said Gibbons as quoted by BoxingScene. "Japan’s the last one. It’ll be number 10, when he knocks Inoue out. We love Japan. We love the Japanese people, love to fight there.
"Give him the address. Give him the address, he’ll come by, no problem. The champ’s a fighter. That’s all I can say. He’ll fight anywhere, anytime, against anybody. He’s the WBO champ," added the MP Promotions chief.
Both Casimero and Inoue have refueled their supposed rivalry outside the ring when the former called out the Japanese "Monster" numerous times.
With some remarks mostly left on Twitter, it did not sit well with Inoue, the unified super WBA, IBF, and The Ring titleholder, and accepted the Filipino's challenge to make the match a done deal.
This is the first time that the 28-year-old Inoue confronted a situation head-on and gave a direct response after shrugging off the trashtalking and comments coming from Casimero last year.
Casimero, for his part, said that he has been calling out Inoue and WBC champion Nonito Donaire but to no avail.
Donaire backed out of the scheduled match this month against Casimero due to heated disputes on both camps as well as issues surrounding the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA).
Casimero eventually defended his WBO title against Guillermo Rigondeaux, who was his initial opponent.
"I always call Naoya Inoue, but now I know he’s scared of me, like Donaire," said Casimero. "But, you know, if he signed a contract, let’s do it. I fight him. But, you know, Naoya Inoue and Donaire all scared. I don’t know what happened."
Inoue remains unbeaten in 21 matches on top of 18 knockouts while Casimero holds a 31-4 record with 21 KOs.