Screen grab of Donaire’s live video
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Four-division world champion and reigning WBC world bantamweight king Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. has decided to cancel his all-Filipino unification showdown against WBO world bantamweight champion Johnriel “Quadro Alas” Casimero.
This decision came out on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, after Donaire and Casimero’s camp engaged in an online spat in the past few weeks after their bout was announced last June 20, 2021.
READ: Casimero, Donaire camps wage war on Twitter
The 38-year-old Donaire Jr., who holds a record of 41 wins, 6 losses, no draws with 27 knockout victories, posted a long statement on his Facebook account, saying he is canceling the bout due to the several lingering issues with Casimero’s (30-4-0, 21KOs) Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) testing paperwork.
Donaire said that Casimero’s camp only showed them the paperwork after they decided to cancel the fight.
Moreover, he said the disrespectful comments from Casimero’s camp made him decide to cancel the fight. He said in the Facebook post that he could not tolerate the disrespectful acts, such as bullying, abuse, and the misogynistic attitude, of his foe’s camp.
“That being said, as we’ve stated before, we cancelled this fight when they delayed turning in the VADA paperwork for 5 days. We have proof that the opposing side was neither honest nor forthcoming in providing the proper information to begin VADA drug testing. AFTER we cancelled the fight, then and only then did the paperwork suddenly appear. I do what I say. And as much as I want to knock him out, I’m going to take the high road and instead of highlighting his misbehaviors, I’m not going to give his example the stage or the payday that comes with it,” Donaire said.
Donaire has been silent despite the issues thrown at him by Casimero. It was Donaire’s wife, Rachel, who demanded the VADA paperwork and replied to Casimero’s camp on social media.
Donaire Jr. finally spoke through a live video on his social media pages last Tuesday, June 29, 2021.
In a video posted on IGTV and Facebook, a furious and Bisaya-speaking Donaire answered all the accusations thrown at him by Casimero’s camp.
“Kung wala ka nakasabot, akong iistorya sa imoha, kung imong idisrespect akong pamilya, akong sarili, akong ihatag sa imoha a hundred percent, you are a piece of s***!” Donaire said.
“Wala ko nag istorya sa imong pamilya, sa imong anak, sa imong asawa, mo istorya ka sa akong pamilya? Naa ta problema, kung naa ka istorya, isulti sa akong nawong.”
READ: Donaire, Casimero camps in early social media tussle
In the live video, Donaire accused Casimero’s camp of using obscene language against his wife, Rachel. Also, Casimero repeatedly said in his social media posts and videos that Donaire is scared of him.
Their feud started when Casimero, in a YouTube video, said that Donaire allegedly told him to speak in English when he asked the latter in Tagalog where they were staying in the area.
He also accused Donaire of snubbing fellow Filipino boxer Michael Dasmariñas before the latter’s world title bout versus Japanese world champion Naoya Inoue earlier this month.
Donaire said in his video that he is all about respect and integrity. He stressed out that all his previous opponents became his good friends, so he is very disappointed that a fellow Filipino boxer like Casimero has disrespected him.
Donaire is not new to calling out opponents who talk trash against him.
In 2012, he demanded a public apology against Puerto Rican Wilfredo Vasquez Jr. after the latter made “disrespectful” comments against Rachel and the Philippines.
Donaire won the bout via split decision for the WBO super bantamweight title and Vasquez apologized to him after.
He also explained that he was the one who made the fight happen since he wants to become an undisputed champion in the bantamweight division.
Also, he explained why he pushed through with the all-Filipino boxing match, which is very unpopular to Filipino boxing fans.
“I picked this guy because I wanted to become undisputed. Second one, I want to put Filipinos in the map that there are Filipino world champions, not just Mexicans, not just Puerto Ricans, not just Americans and Europeans. Actually Filipinos have bunch of world champions and yet they come to disrespect that,” said Donaire.
“Who do you think made the fight happen? Did Casimero said I want to fight Donaire? We kicked out Rigondeaux. We made the fight happen, no disrespect to Rigondeaux, but we were able to get to this point.”
The fight was supposed to be held at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson City, California on August 14, 2021.
READ: Donaire, Casimero set for unification fight in August
CDN Digital sought comment from the Casimero camp but messages were unanswered as of this posting.
/bmjo