John Riel Casimero made a successful homecoming, dethroning Fillipus Nghitumbwa via a unanimous decision win to take the WBO Global super bantamweight title at the Okada Manila in Paranaque City on Saturday, May 13.

John Riel Casimero lands a solid right straight to the face of Fillipus Nghitumbwa during their WBO Global Super Bantamweight title bout at the Okada Manila in Paranaque City (Juan Carlo De Vela/MB)

One judge scored the bout 114-112, while the other two had a 116-112 scorecard in favor of Casimero who fought in front of a Filipino crowd for the first time since 2019.

Casimero improved to a 33 wins, with 22 coming from knockouts, and four losses, while Nghitumbwa fell to a 12-2 record.

“Di ko akalain na ganun sya katibay, akala ko round 2, round 3 doon na matatapos pero pinakita niya talaga ‘yung sinabi niya na lalaban siya sa akin ng suntukan so sobrang tibay ng kalaban natin,” said Casimero who earlier promised a knockout finish to the fight.

Casimero did try to finish the match in the early rounds with the Filipino hard-hitter dictating the fight with heavy hits to the body and head of the Namibian champion.

Nghitumbwa though showed resistance, engaging Casimero to vicious exchanges before the latter delivered a booming left hook that sent the former down to the canvas in the sixth round.

Nghitumbwa, though, mustered enough strength to survive the knockdown before posing some threat to a seemingly gassed out Casimero in the latter rounds, all thanks to the sharp jabs and solid counter punching.

The effort, however, proved to be futile in the end with Nghitumbwa even getting slapped with a point deduction after a rabbit punch in the 12th round. 

Heeding to the chants of the Filipino crowd inside the venue, Casimero declared that he’ll be eyeing a clash against Japanese champion Naoya Inoue for his next fight.