AFTER a one-year layoff, three-time world champion Johnriel Casimero is making a ring comeback.
The controversial 36-year-old boxer is set for a return on Oct. 25 when he tangles with young Kyonosuke Kameda of Japan in a non-title bout at the Bishkek Arena in Kyrgyzstan.
It will be the first fight for Casimero since his first-round TKO of American Luis Sanchez in Yokohama, Japan in October of 2024.
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Casimero won despite coming in overweight for the 10-round fight, which later led to his one-year suspension by the Japan Boxing Commission.
The meeting with Kameda also marked Casimero’s debut at super-featherweight after previously fighting at super-bantamweight.
Apparently, the Filipino’s added weight in his one year of inactivity prompted the move up in weight class for his comeback fight.
Casimero holds a 34-4-1 record with 23 KOs and was once considered among the feared fighters in the bantamweight division where he once reigned as WBO champion.
He was even penciled for a megafight with boxing superstar Naoya Inoue in a unification match that was later cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
His fallout with longtime handler Sean Gibbons later led to one controversy after another, including him being stripped of his WBO title belt.
He then signed up with Treasure Boxing Promotion of Japanese Masayuki Ito, before moving to SaikouLush Boxing Promotion of former world champion Koki Kameda.
Kyonosuke, 27, is the cousin of Koki and is represented by Koki’s brother Tomoki Kameda.
The Japanese fighter sports a 15-5-2 record including nine KOs.
He lost a majority decision in his last fight against David Picasso of Mexico in the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Mario Barrios WBC welterweight title contest at the MGM Grand last July.
Casimero’s fight in Kyrgyzstan comes a day before world title prospect Kenneth Llover takes on Luciano Francisco Baldor of Argentina in the same venue.
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