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Llover wins fourth bout of the year via knockout; Casimero bounces back

Sports | Boxing

Llover wins fourth bout of the year via knockout; Casimero bounces back

By Reynald I. Magallon

At A Glance

Undefeated prospect Kenneth Llover hardly broke a sweat and knocked out Chinese foe Ayati Sailike in the second round to retain his OPBF bantamweight title on Saturday, Dec. 27 at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan.

Undefeated prospect Kenneth Llover hardly broke a sweat and knocked out Chinese foe Ayati Sailike in the second round to retain his OPBF bantamweight title on Saturday, Dec. 27 at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan.

Llover put on the work early and dictated the tempo before flooring Sailike twice – the last of which off a booming left hook that left the Chinese fighter unable to beat the count.

With the win, the 22-year-old from General Trias, Cavite capped his busy year in style after seeing action in a total of four bouts to improve to a 17-0 record with 12 knockouts.

The victory also raised hopes for Llover to finally land a long coveted shot at a world title. He is currently ranked No. 5 in International Boxing Federation (IBF), No. 9 in World Boxing Council, and No. 10 in World Boxing Association.

Sailike, for his part, dropped to a 12-10-3 record.

Also putting on a show in Japan was John Riel Casimero, who likewise scored a fifth-round stoppage of Tom Mizokoshi.

A pair of right and left hooks rocked an already bloodied Mizokoshi and then finished things off with another left that knocked down the Japanese.

Mizokoshi managed to stand up but the referee had seen enough and halted the fight with still 2:01 left in the round.

Looking more fit than his previous matches, Casimero bounced back from a stinging defeat to Kyonusuke Kameda just last October. He improved to 35-5-1 record with 24 knockouts

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