CEBU CITY, Philippines—The flamboyant former WBO world bantamweight champion, John Riel “Quadro Alas” Casimero will have his comeback fight against Japanese Ryo Akaho on December 3, 2022 at the Paradise City in Incheon, South Korea.
This was officially announced by Japan-based A-Sign Boxing through a YouTube video, which appeared to be a teaser trailer of Casimero and Akaho’s upcoming bout.
It’s been a long while since Filipino boxing fans have heard from Casimero, who botched his mandatory world title bout twice against British challenger Paul “Baby Faced Assassin” Butler.
It can be recalled that Casimero, who is from Merida, Leyte, used the sauna to shed off his excess weight during the week of his mandatory title defense against Butler in Liverpool, England.
The British Boxing Board of Control immediately disqualified Casimero for such act since it was considered illegal to use the sauna during the fight week.
The incident ultimately resulted to Casimero being stripped off of his world title bout, paving the way for Butler to get elevated as the new WBO world bantamweight champion.
Before that, Casimero also botched his title defense against Butler in Dubai last year when he was rushed to the hospital due to ‘viral gastritis.’
Nonetheless, Casimero who has a record of 31 wins, 21 by knockouts, and four losses, is back on track for his much-anticipated return on December.
Before his world title defense fiasco, Casimero was on a seven-fight winning streak.
Meanwhile, Akaho, a former world title challenger, hasn’t tasted defeat since 2015. He has a record of 39 wins with two defeats, and two draws. He has 26 knockout wins.
His last victim inside the ring was Filipino Edrin Dapudong, whom he knocked out in the first round last September 3, 2022 at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Akaho has a long list of Filipino boxers he defeated before. Among them are Elmar Francisco, Richard Garcia, and Robert Udtohan.
/bmjo
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