SEAN Gibbons is just one call away.
The top guy of MP Promotions is open to working again with the camp of former world champion Johnriel Casimero if they’re interested to revisit a potential showdown with newly-crowned undisputed super-bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue.
Gibbons knows the 34-year-old Casimero, currently without a belt and not yet highly-rated in the 122 lbs. division where he just fought his third fight last October, is not high on the radar of Inoue’s camp.
The group of Inoue, being co-promoted by Top Rank and Ohashi Promotions, is already looking for a May title defense against Mexican Luis Nery, who is the mandatory WBC challenger.
Nery (35-1, with 27 KOs) was a former WBC super-bantamweight champion whose only loss so far was a seventh round stoppage against Brandon Figueroa to yield his 122 lbs. title belt along with the WBA version.
Former two-belt title holder Murodjon Akhmadaliev is likewise in the conversation despite him being beaten by Marlon Tapales via split decision to wrest the WBA and IBF crowns. He’s coming off an eight-round TKO win over Kevin Gonzales two weeks ago and was at ringside in Ariake Arena during the Inoue-Tapales unification bout.
“He’ (Casimero) long way down the list,” said Gibbons of his former fighter. “As Nery is next, Murodjon, and then we’ll see who is left standing.”
But despite his past differences with Casimero (33-4, 22 KOs), Gibbons is willing to help him pull all the strings just for the Filipino to finally have his day with the Japanese ‘Monster’ in the ring.
“If he (Casimero) was to call me, absolutely,” said the former fighter turned boxing executive. “I have a fondness for brother Casimero. We love to help him.”
Gibbons of course, was responsible for making Casimero a three-time world champion now being promoted by Masayuki Ito, who was actually set to fight Inoue in a unification match on April 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada, that was eventually shelved due to the global pandemic.
Following his last title defense of his WBO bantamweight belt against Guillermo Rigondaeux in Carson, California, everything went downhill for Casimero as he eventually had a falling out with MP Promotions and Gibbons, who had worked with him for almost a decade.
But everything remains possible. As Gibbons said, he’s just one call away.
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