IT was not exactly the outcome Johnriel Casimero wanted in his Japan debut.
Casimero earned a technical draw in his junior-featherweight bout against Yukinori Oguni after the Japanese fighter suffered a cut due to an accidental headbutt.
READ: Casimero gets break as no-contest bout vs Akaho declared as KO win
Referee Yuji Fukuchi stopped the fight at Ariake Arena in Koto-Ku, Japan shortly after a clash of heads left Oguni with a cut at the 27-second mark of the fourth round.
Casimero was leading in the two judges’ scorecards, 29-28, while Oguni led 29-28 in the scorecard of the third judge. The fight however, didn’t go to the scorecards as it hadn’t gone beyond four rounds.
The draw left Casimero holding a 33-4-1 record with 22 knockouts. It also put to a halt his nine-fight win streak that began in 2018.
Oguni's record now stand at 21-2-3 with 8 KOs after his second straight technical draw. He had the same result in a fight against Keita Kurihara in May last year.
Prior to the fight being stopped, the Filipino hurt Oguni with an overhand right near the end of the second round.
Meanwhile, Froilan Saludar captured the Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) bantamweight title in the Casimero-Oguni undercard, scoring a quick, first round TKO of Japanese Keita Kurihara.
The 34-year-old Saludar, who once fought for the WBO flyweight crown, decked Kurihara twice with a series of overhand rights, before referee Toshio Sugiyama stopped the bout as the Japanese came under heavy attack from the Filipino.
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