WILL Naoya Inoue take the bait?
As soon as he demolished two-division champion Luis Nery of Mexico, Johnriel Casimero was quick to call out the attention of the undefeated Inoue, considered one of the top fighters in the world today pound-for-pound, by stressing why the beloved Japanese warrior has been avoiding him for such a long time now.
“Yung tagumpay ko ngayon, alam ninyo na bakit natakot sa akin si Naoya Inoue,” said Casimero during the post-fight interview before a huge Japanese audience at the Aichi Tokoname, Aichi Sky Expo in Nagoya, Japan.
READ: Johnriel Casimero destroys Luis Nery in four brutal rounds
The 37-year-old Casimero destroyed Nery inside four rounds, sending the proud Mexican to the floor six times – three in the third round alone – before putting him on the canvass for good by hammering him with a massive left to the head at the 2:18 mark of the fourth round.
The former three-time world champion raised his record to 36-5-1 (25 KOs), while putting himself back in the conversation of challenging Inoue’s reign as the undisputed super-bantamweight champion today.
Nery took on Inoue two years ago and was the first fighter to knock down the Japanese in his pro career, clipping him with left hook in the opening round of their title fight at the Tokyo Dome.
But it proved to be Nery’s bright moment as Inoue pressed the Mexican onwards and went on to score a sixth round knockout.
With Casimero hacking out an even impressive win, he felt it was like scoring a victory against ‘The Monster’ as well.
“Alam ko naman na malakas si Nery. At ang tagumpay na ito, para kong tinalo si Naoya Inoue,” he said.
The two was actually set to cross paths on April of 2020 in a highly-anticipated bantamweight unification match in Las Vegas.
Unfortunately, the showdown didn’t push through due to the global pandemic
Six years after and following his statement win over Nery, Casimero obviously wants to revisit the marquee fight.
Incidentally, both are now being handled by Japanese promoters. Casimero now works for Kameda Promotions, while Inoue is with Ohashi Promotions, while also has a co-promotional partnership with Bob Arum and Top Rank.
But Inoue (33-0, 27 KOs) has other things in mind at the moment.
After scoring a unanimous decision against fellow unbeaten Japanese Junto Nakatani for the undisputed super-bantamweight titles, the 33-year-old Inoue is considering a rich money fight against unified super-flyweight champion Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez (23-0, 16 KOs).
The bout is projected for an early 2027 schedule as Rodriguez is slated to take on WBA champion Antonio Vargas next week in Arizona.
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