JOHNRIEL Casimero proved too much for an outclassed Saul Sanchez on Sunday, scoring a quick first-round TKO win in their super-bantamweight fight in Yokohama, Budokan in Japan.
The 35-year-old Filipino, who failed to make weight for the 10-round non-title bout, set up the American with a right to the body before a right straight had Sanchez staggering and led to his right glove touching the canvas for an automatic count just less than 30 seconds into the bout.
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Sanchez, 27, appeared to have recovered from the flash knockdown and landed a couple of hard shots at Casimero before a left hook by the Filipino suddenly put the American down on his back anew.
The California native was obviously wobbly and struggled getting up on his feet, but eventually managed to beat the referee’s count.
It was only a matter of time before Casimero would finish his American foe.
As the former three-time world champion smelled blood, the Filipino peppered Sanchez with crunching combinations before a right straight staggered the American and prompted the referee to finally stop the fight at the 2:41 mark.
When it was over, Casimero let out a wild yell and then did a one-handed push-up in the middle of the ring as his corner celebrated along with him.
Casimero improved to 34-4-1 with 23 KOs in his first fight back after a year as he lined himself up once more among the possible contenders to undisputed champion Naoya Inoue of Japan despite his struggle maintaining his weight at the 122lbs limit.
The Filipino appeared surprised when the referee still let Sanchez continue the fight following the knockdown.
“Why he (referee) didn’t stop it? OK, I’ll kill him,” said Casimero in broken English in his post-fight presser among members of the Japanese media. “I’m focusing on knocking him out because my supporters and the people watching wanted a knockout.”
Sanchez, who just beat Filipino former world title challenger Arthur Villanueva last July, is now 21-4 with 12 KO’s.
He previously fought for the WBO bantamweight championship early this year, but lost by majority decision to title-holder Jason Moloney.
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