Casimero faces fellow Pinoy pug in junior bantamweight debut

JOHNRIEL “Cuadro Alas” Casimero’s quest to become a three-division world champion will begin with a tough match-up as he debuts in the junior bantamweight division against fellow Filipino boxer Richie Mepranum on June 25 in Iligan City.

Samson Gello-ani, promoter of the 27-year-old Ormoc City-native Casimero (23W-3L-0D,15KOs), said his ward will be facing a tough challenge with the three-time world title challenger Mepranum (31W-6L-1D,8KOs).

“This fight is the start of bigger fights ahead for Casimero and I want to erase that impression that we are giving him an easy fight by choosing a Filipino opponent. For me, Filipino boxers will give Casimero a quality fight,” Gello-ani told CDN.

The upcoming fight will be Casimero’s first fight in nine months after his dominating knockout victory versus English boxer Charlie Edwards last September in London, United Kingdom.

He then vacated his IBF world flyweight belt to move up to a heavier division.

“We want him to get active again as he starts his campaign in heavier division. He’s been training for a while so we want him to see action again,” added Gello-ani.

Gello-ani said the fight card in Iligan City will not be affected by the recent crisis in Marawi City.

“It’s very peaceful in Iligan City, I visit there regularly to prepare the venue for the fight card. We already scheduled the fight before the crisis in Marawi broke out so we can’t move it anymore and I see no problem in staging the fight card there,” said Gello-ani.

The fight, which is free to the public, will be held at the Iligan City Public Market, said Gello-ani.