Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. John Riel Casimero - August 14, 2021

[Ruthless-RKO]

Casimero: I'll Do The Fans A Favor And Retire Rigondeaux On Saturday Night

John Riel Casimero cautioned those that appreciate Guillermo Rigondeaux’s style to savor their fight Saturday night.

It’ll be the last time, according to the colorful Casimero, that the Cuban southpaw will set foot in a boxing ring.

“Rigondeaux, after the fight, after August 14th, Rigondeaux will retire,” Casimero told BS.com. “I’m gonna do the fans a favor and finally retire Rigondeaux.”

The 40-year-old Rigondeaux hasn’t paid much attention to the confident Casimero’s insults throughout the buildup toward their 12-round fight for Casimero’s WBO bantamweight championship. The WBA’s secondary 118-pound champion is, however, an underdog against a hard-hitting Filipino fighter who has won six straight bouts by knockout or technical knockout.

Showtime will air Casimero-Rigondeaux as the main event of a tripleheader from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Casimero’s trash talk aside, his promoter recognizes Rigondeaux would be by far the most noteworthy conquest on his record if Casimero (30-4, 21 KOs) wins a fight he’ll enter as a 2-1 favorite.

“Beating Rigondeaux at his natural weight, his best weight at 118, is a huge accomplishment,” Sean Gibbons, president of Manny Pacquiao’s promotional company, told Boxing Scene. “I mean, no one’s ever done it. Lomachenko had to weigh [three] divisions higher to beat up this little 118-pounder when he did it and acted like he was doing something. But this is the best pound-for-pound weight that Rigondeaux has ever fought at. So, this is a tremendous accomplishment. It’ll be great to have Rigondeaux, in his final fight, on Casimero’s record.”

Rigondeaux (20-1, 13 KOs, 1 NC), a two-time Olympic gold medalist, has lost as a professional only to Vasiliy Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs). The Ukrainian southpaw handled Rigondeaux relatively easily in December 2017, when Rigondeaux declined to continue following the sixth round of their fight for Lomachenko’s WBO junior lightweight title at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York.

An aged Rigondeaux is 3-0 since Lomachenko beat him, but Casimero seems to be his most dangerous opponent since he suffered that defeat.

“Once he feels Casimero’s power, he’s gonna go into the old mode of trying to move and trying to box,” Gibbons said. “But, you know, we all know he’s not the guy of 2013. He’ll be able to move some, but he’s gonna do a lot of backing up. He’s gonna try to counter Casimero, because once he feels that power, he’s not gonna go toe-to-toe, like he did with [Julio] Ceja. He’s gonna box more like he did with [Liborio] Solis.

“But John Riel’s IQ is tremendous in boxing. When the bell rings, he’ll figure things out and whatever Rigondeaux brings in – if he wants to go toe-to-toe, we’ve got something for that. If he wants to go run, Casimero has something for that. So, it’s a great fight because Rigondeaux is a very intelligent fighter. No one is looking past him. This guy ain’t no easy task.”

Showtime’s telecast will include another 12-round bantamweight bout between Gary Antonio Russell (18-0, 12 KOs), of Capitol Heights, Maryland, and Puerto Rico’s Emmanuel Rodriguez (19-2, 12 KOs) for the WBA interim 118-pound championship. The network’s tripleheader will begin at 10 p.m. EDT/7 p.m. PDT with a 10-round bantamweight bout in which Rau’shee Warren (18-3, 4 KOs, 1 NC), a former IBO/WBA champ from Cincinnati, is scheduled to face Las Vegas’ Damien Vazquez (15-2-1, 8 KOs).

[Ruthless-RKO]

Date: Saturday, August 14, 2021
Start Time: 10pm ET | 7pm PT | 3am BST
Location: Dignity Health Sports Park - Carson, CA
TV: Showtime

Main Card

WBO World Bantamweight Championship
Guillermo Rigondeaux (20-1, 13 KOs) vs. John Riel Casimero (30-4, 21 KOs)

WBA 'Interim' Bantamweight Championship
Gary Antonio Russell (18-0, 12 KOs) vs. Emmanuel Rodriguez (19-2, 12 KOs)

10 Round Bantamweight Bout
Rau’shee Warren (18-3, 4 KOs) vs. Damien Vazquez (15-2-1, 8 KOs)

Non-Televised Undercard

8 Round Super Lightweight Bout
Brandun Lee vs. Ezequiel Victor Fernandez

8 Round Bantamweight Bout
Juan Carlos Payano vs. Raymond Tabugon

6 Round Middleweight Bout
Alan Emmanuel Castano vs. Christian Aguirre

8 Round Bantamweight Bout
Jonas Sultan vs. Sharone Carter

4 Round Middleweight Bout
Benjamin Stanoff vs. Maycon Oller Da Silva

[ironbeard]

Potentially very good televised card.

Good to see GAR is not fiddlefornicating around 9 months of the year.

[margaret thatcher]

the 140 gary, gary antuanne russell, might be the best russell, i hope they have him out again soon, he's been moved way too slowly for a guy who has outstanding talent

[ironbeard]

Warren scores 2 kds round 1. Very sharp. 2nd round in control and BOOM GAME OVER ROUND 2. WOW!!

[KiwiRider]

They are burning through this card faster than a meth head's inheritance.
Not even a punch landed

[KiwiRider]

Shortsighted PBC not having a swing fight for this card.
It's going to be a short on boxing, high on guff event.
1 1/2 rounds for the first fight, 16 seconds for the second fight, and now a whole lot of chatter until the main even. Kinda wished I recorded this and watched it later on 30x fast forward

[margaret thatcher]

lol a NC 16 seconds into round 1 is about as disappointing as it gets

casimero and rigo now in the ring though

[gregregegg]

lol a NC 16 seconds into round 1 is about as disappointing as it gets

casimero and rigo now in the ring though

What happened? is that the quickest NC ever.... (on a big card).

[margaret thatcher]

lol a NC 16 seconds into round 1 is about as disappointing as it gets

casimero and rigo now in the ring though

What happened? is that the quickest NC ever.... (on a big card).

head clash, rodriguez cant continue, bang, over in 16 seconds...it was a good matchup on paper too, so that sux

[KiwiRider]

Rigo's nickname should be 'ghost'.

[margaret thatcher]

1-0 casimero

rigo gets hurt a bit in round 1, casimero also lands several shots while hes down

[skanksta]

Rigo down in R1 !
JRC looking for the highlight reel KO in R2...

[skanksta]

And suddenly it's got boring...

JRC loading up with Rigo backing away and not doing enough.

[KiwiRider]

Better 2nd for Rigo. Crowd doesn't like cyclists
Even 1-1

[ironbeard]

WOW!! Rigo the matador.

19-19

[KiwiRider]

Was that Shields hoarsely yelling "Stop running! stop running!"

[ironbeard]

Rd 3 =

10-9 Casi
29-28 Casi

[margaret thatcher]

was rigo trying to do a willie pep in round 3?

[margaret thatcher]

2-1 casimero

rigo comes close to throwing 0 punches in round 3

[skanksta]

Kinda like Hughie vs Parker.

[gregregegg]

Got no audio, the boos started yet for ringos backpeddling? he has done about 2 miles in there so far.

[KiwiRider]

Aww man...

[ironbeard]

Rd 4 = rigo the picador.

10-9 Rigo
38-38

[KiwiRider]

Got no audio, the boos started yet for ringos backpeddling? he has done about 2 miles in there so far.

Mate, the boos are almost as loud at my place as the venue, and its just me here..