ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Boxing devider John Riel Casimero: I want to fight Naoya Inoue

John Riel Casimero: I want to fight Naoya Inoue

Published Oct 14, 2024 08:58 am

At A Glance

  • Former three-division Filipino world champion John Riel Casimero is hoping that his impressive first-round technical knockout victory over Saul Sanchez has piqued interests to finally land big fights in the super bantamweight division.

Former three-division Filipino world champion John Riel Casimero is hoping that his impressive first-round technical knockout victory over Saul Sanchez has piqued interests to finally land big fights in the super bantamweight division.

GZsJ0vYbQAArsIp (1).jpg

The controversial 35-year-old fighter made his hopes of starring in more high-profile fights even more apparent during his post-fight interview after making quick work of his counterpart, lasting only 2:41 in the opening frame.

Casimero, like he usually does, called out 122lbs undisputed king Naoya Inoue, vowing that he can put together an even more impressive performance than his win against Sanchez.

“'Yung pinakita ko mas higit pa doon sa mga susunod na laban ko. Hopefully soon lalaban na sa akin yung mga big fight,” said Casimero. 

“Naoya Inoue. Where's Naoya Inoue come on,” he added, adhering to the teasing of the fans.

The flamboyant orthodox from Ormoc, Leyte, was no doubt sharp and impressive especially for someone who is coming off a year-long hiatus.

What has been turning off potential fights for the former champion was his issues outside the ring.

The Filipino, for one, was embroiled in another weight management issue after coming in over the limit prior to his fight against Sanchez. He was once stripped of his WBO belt on a separate weight mismanagement issue.

Casimero, however, was undeterred although he stressed that it only happened because the fight was a non-title bout. In a case of a championship fight, he assured he would pull all the stops to make the weight.

“My win, it's controversial pero 'di na bago sakin ito dahil 'di ko business iyan. Ang business ko ito ang pag-knockout sa mga kalaban ko. Wala akong pakialam kung overweight ako,” said Casimero.

“Kung championship ang laban, pagsikapan ko talaga na makuha 'yung timbang ko. Pero hindi championship ito, kaya may point na 123 timbang ko okay lang dapat. Option iyon e pero okay lang,” he added.

Despite being overweight, the fight against Sanchez pushed through in the condition that Casimero would be wearing heavier gloves and he was subjected to two more weigh-ins on fight day.

“Sobrang (hirap) kasi last minute na ako, kasi 5 hours na lang 'yung kain ko. Pagtapos ng timbang, uminom lang ako ng tubig, wala na, that's it. Gumising ako ng umaga 10 am, timbangan na naman. Iyon lang 'yung kain ko isang beses,” he added.

ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.