John Riel Casimero vs. Duke Micah - September 26, 2020

[Ruthless-RKO]

John Riel Casimero moves on from Inoue, will face Duke Micah instead on Charlo PPV card

John Riel Casimero has moved on from his delayed unification bout against Naoya Inoue and will make his first defense of the WBO bantamweight title on September 26 against unbeaten Ghanaian Duke Micah.

The fight will open up the Showtime pay-per-view doubleheader at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. featuring Jermell and Jermall Charlo against Jeison Rosario and Sergiy Derevyanchenko, respectively.

Casimero (29-4, 20 knockouts) of Ormoc City, Philippines had been scheduled to face WBA/IBF titleholder Naoya Inoue in April, before the pandemic put that fight on ice. He had gone through a “rollercoaster” of developments while waiting to see if Inoue would be able to get a visa to come to the U.S. to make the fight happen.

“So we decided it’s time to move on for now,” said MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons of Casimero, who won the title in his third weight class with a knockout of Zolani Tete in November. “It’s been so up and down, wanting to go home at one moment. The hardest thing for a fighter to train is not having a date, not really knowing what’s going on.”

The wait was so long that Casimero’s trainer Nonoy Neri has already gone back to the Philippines ahead of him. In his place, Casimero has begun training under former WBA junior featherweight titleholder Clarence “Bones” Adams at Adams’ gym in Las Vegas. The two know each other well, since Casimero had trained at his gym when he first came to the United States for a training camp several years ago, and Gibbons has a rapport with Adams since he had matched many of his fights when he was an active fighter.

“Bones knows what he’s doing and Casimero doesn’t need a lot,” said Gibbons. “It’s not like you’ve gotta reinvent the wheel.”

Micah (24-0, 19 KOs) was a 2012 Olympian for his native Ghana, making it to the round of 16 in the flyweight tournament before losing to Michael Conlan.

The 28-year-old trains with Andre Rozier in Brooklyn, N.Y. and is handled by Premier Boxing Champions. In his last fight, Micah got off the canvas to win a unanimous decision against Janiel Rivera on the Jermall Charlo vs. Dennis Hogan card last December at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn. Micah is rated no. 11 by the WBO.

Gibbons says that among the other opponents who had been pitched for Casimero were former WBA bantamweight titleholder Rau’shee Warren as well as Alejandro Santiago Barrios, who had bedeviled Jerwin Ancajas in their IBF junior bantamweight title fight two years ago, which ended in a draw. Also considered was a rematch with Pedro Guevara, the former WBC junior flyweight titleholder who Casimero had handed his first defeat to in 2012 by split decision in Mexico.

Now, Gibbons says this fight is the biggest opportunity for Casimero to date, considering that it’s his first time on a major network in the United States, and an impressive win could get him on the radar for other big fights, especially if the showdown with Inoue cannot be rescheduled.

Among the names that Gibbons has on a wishlist, aside from Inoue, is Luis Nery, who fights Aaron Alameda for the vacant WBC junior featherweight title on the same card. Casimero took aim at Nery over the weekend, accusing him of avoiding a fight between the two.

“He’s shown interest in Guillermo Rigondeaux, he’d love an all-Filipino match with Nonito Donaire if he’s successful with [WBC bantamweight titleholder] Nordine Oubaali [on December 12], and of course there’s that guy that we were supposed to fight, Inoue. So Casimero has a lot of avenues he can go at 118 and 122 but we’re not looking past Duke Micah.

“Duke Micah is like a lot of other fighters from Ghana. He comes right at you, hands high, wants to bang, solid fundamentals and I can guarantee somebody is getting knocked out, one way or the other. You don’t gotta find this guy, that’s what’s great about this fight.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Roman-Payano, Nery-Alameda, Casimero-TBD Added To Showtime PPV Card 9/26

Showtime and Premier Boxing Champions announced alterations Saturday night to the undercard of a six-fight, pay-per-view show September 26 that’ll feature Jermall Charlo and Jermell Charlo.

Most notably, hard-hitting WBO bantamweight champion Johnriel Casimero has been added to the Jermall Charlo-Sergiy Derevyanchenko portion of the show, which will start at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. from a site to be determined.

Casimero’s opponent hadn’t been secured as of Saturday night. The Filipino power puncher was supposed to battle Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue (19-0, 16 KOs) in a 118-pound title unification fight April 25 in Las Vegas, but that ESPN telecast was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A junior featherweight fight between former IBF/WBA 122-pound champion Daniel Roman and Juan Carlos Payano also was announced Saturday night as part of the September 26 undercard. Roman was already committed to this card, but he needed an opponent.

The Dominican Republic’s Payano hasn’t fought since former WBC bantamweight champ Luis Nery knocked him out in the ninth round of their fight nearly 13 months ago in Las Vegas.

Mexico’s Nery will meet countryman Aaron Alameda in a 12-round fight for the vacant WBC 122-pound title on the Jermell Charlo-Rosario portion of the September 26 show. The WBC approved at its virtual convention Thursday for Nery and Alameda to fight for the WBC super featherweight belt because Rey Vargas is injured and has been relegated to champion in recess.

The Nery-Alameda match will be part of the Jermell Charlo-Rosario undercard at the same site as the Jermall Charlo-Derevyanchenko portion of the show.

Two undercard bouts previously announced as part of the September 26 show will be moved to Showtime/PBC undercards on undetermined dates later this year.

In one of those fights, San Antonio’s Mario Barrios (25-0, 16 KOs) will defend his WBA world 140-pound championship against Houston’s Ryan Karl (18-2, 12 KOs) in a 12-rounder. The other fight is a 12-round IBF lightweight elimination match in which Las Vegas’ Diego Magdaleno (32-3, 13 KOs) will meet Mexico’s Isaac Cruz (19-1-1, 14 KOs).

Below is the breakdown of the two three-fight segments of the Showtime Pay-Per-View card September 26.

At site TBD

7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT

Johnriel Casimero (29-4, 20 KOs) vs. Duke Micah, 12 rounds, for Casimero’s WBO bantamweight title.

Brandon Figueroa (20-0-1, 15 KOs), Weslaco, Texas vs. Damien Vazquez (15-1-1, 8 KOs), Las Vegas, 12 rounds, for Figueroa’s WBA world super bantamweight title.

Jermall Charlo (30-0, 22 KOs), Houston vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko, (13-2, 10 KOs), Kiev, Ukraine, 12 rounds, for Charlo’s WBC middleweight title.

Time TBD following intermission

Daniel Roman (27-3-1, 10 KOs), Los Angeles vs. Juan Carlos Payano (21-3, 9 KOs), La Vega, Dominican Republic, 10 or 12 rounds, junior featherweights.

Luis Nery (30-0, 24 KOs), Tijuana, Mexico vs. Aaron Alameda (25-0, 13 KOs), Nogales, Mexico, 12 rounds, for the vacant WBC super bantamweight title.

Jermell Charlo (33-1, 17 KOs), Houston vs. Jeison Rosario (20-1-1, 14 KOs), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 12 rounds, for Charlo’s WBC and Rosario’s IBF, IBO and WBA 154-pound titles.

[margaret thatcher]

that sux, inoue woulda been firewerks

[Ruthless-RKO]

that sux, inoue woulda been firewerks

The Inoue fight is just on hold really..

They still plan on fighting.

[Cent0089]

Interesting fight. If Casimero can handle this undefeated guy, Inoue fight can be more popular. Same goes if Micah win.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Interesting fight. If Casimero can handle this undefeated guy, Inoue fight can be more popular. Same goes if Micah win.

Yeh, I hope to still see Inoue vs. Casimero.. Hopefully early next year.

[NoScoutingReports]

Looking forward to seeing Casimero in action again, exciting fighter. This card looks great.

[Boxing Prospect]

Micah looks pretty much made to order and being dropped by Janiel Rivera does not bode well vs Casimero

[Ruthless-RKO]

Fight Week!

[Ruthless-RKO]

[JxhDel.]

Casimero will blast him.

[handsofstone]

Demolition job from Casimero, excellent 1st round both men throwing and landing bombs to head and body it was inevitable someone was gonna get tagged and in the 2nd round it was Micah who got clipped by a left hook which wobbled the legs and dropped him early in the round, probably shouldve been stopped as his legs were gone but somehow he managed to make it to the end of the round despite taking a shellacking, he was never making it out the 3rd though and Casimero continued to wade in with pure venom, after he nailed Micah with a right uppercut then a left one, the ref stepped in