THREE Filipinos led by reigning WBO bantamweight champion Johnriel Casimero banner the inaugural fight card offered by Probellum Promotions on Dec. 11 at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.
Casimero, 31, stakes his 118-pound crown against Paul Butler of England in one of two world title bouts involving Filipino fighters in the fight card.
Jayson Mama sees action in the other world championship match against another English fighter in Sunny Edwards, who will put his IBF flyweight crown on the line.
Nietes comeback
The third Filipino set to see action is comebacking four-division champion Donnie ‘Ahas’ Nietes, who recently signed with Probellum.
The boxing outfit has yet to announce the opponent of Nietes, but the fight will be a world title eliminator.
“The two world title fights will see Johnriel Casimero face Paul Buttler, while Sunny Edwards takes on Jayson Mama, and both of those bouts are set to be guaranteed excitement,” said Probellum President Richard Schaefer.
Casimero (31-4, 21 KOs) is currently holding training camp in San Diego, California, and will be travelling to Dubai by the first week of December.
The 32-year-old Butler (33-2, 15 KOs) serves as mandatory challenger to Casimero and once held the IBF bantamweight title belt.
Meanwhile, the unbeaten Mama (16-0, 9 KOs) gets the chance to finally earn a title shot against Edwards, whose ankle injury led to the postponement of their fight last September.
The 24-year-old Mama and his compact entourage were already in London three days before the Sept. 11 title fight before they were advised that the match has been cancelled due to the champion’s injury.
Edwards, 25, is similarly unbeaten with a 16-0 record, but with only 4 KOs to boot.