Johnriel Casimero is unfazed by the huge possibility of showing up in a hostile crowd when he tries to defend his IBF Light Flyweight belt against Panamanian challenger Luis Alberto Rios in the latter’s home country, Panama, this Sunday.
Casimero is the same boxer who was involved in the boxing tragedy in Buenos Aires that even shamed Argentina. Casimero was then facing hometown fighter Luis Lazarte for the IBF light flyweight belt, a bout that was heavily laced with dirty tactics by the Argentinean fighter. Rabbit punches were thrown, referee was threatened, and the worst part, the angry fans incited a riot when Casimiro was declared the winner resulting to the Filipino having concussions – not from the fight – but with the attacks he received from the mob after the fight. Even the members of his camp didn’t escape the angry crowd that began throwing bottles, cups, and chairs; some even attacked Casimero’s side directly.
The Casimero – Lazarte riot
Casimero may have taken home the belt, but he also took home the nightmare of the riot with him.
This time though, he’s trying to get that awful experience way past him as he defends his IBF flyweight belt in another hostile territory.
This time around, Casimero is confident that he can be successful with his title defense against the Panamanian; he’s even already thinking about his plans once he’s done with Rios.
It just so happens that his next plans are not of a minor feat – he plans on unifying the major title belts in the flyweight division and become the undisputed champion of the 108 lbs division. Even if that means trading punches with fellow Filipino champ Brian Viloria who’s currently holding two major belts after he successfully unified the WBO and WBA flyweight belts when he disposed Tyson Marquez of Mexico.
But let’s look at the present first.
The Ormoc boxing standout is set to face a fighter who is known for backpedaling and his lack of urge of standing toe-to-toe, punch-for-punch, with his opponent, making his opponent to get frustrated with chasing him on all four corners of the boxing ring.
Casimero should have a fight plan on how to get the Panamanian Rios pinned onto the ropes or to make him to exchange punches with him. Otherwise, it’ll be a boring fight, with the results getting into the scorecards.
