By: Hans Themistode
By all accounts, the performance of Naoya Inoue was breathtaking.
The unified bantamweight champion made it look incredibly easy this past weekend against mandatory challenger Michael Dasmarinas. Three rounds were all Inoue needed at the Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A crushing body shot sent Dasmarinas down to the canvas early on. And while he would rise to his feet a few seconds later, Inoue made him fold with another shot to the midsection, ending the night. Immediately following the win, fans that were in the arena stood on their feet and cheered for the Japanese fighter. Yet, John Riel Casimero, WBO belt holder, sat stoically in his seat, unimpressed and appeared to be restraining himself from yawning.
The Filipino product has called for a showdown against Inoue for a number of years now. Even with the pound-for-pound star flat-lining his most recent opponent, Casimero (30-4, 21 KOs) believes he’ll take care of business against Inoue without much trouble.
“It was a good performance but easy work,” said Casimero during an interview with FightHype.com.
For as badly as Casimero wants to get his hands on Inoue (21-0, 18 KOs), he’ll first have to take care of business in his next ring appearance. After agreeing to take on the highly skilled former two-time Olympic Gold medalist, Guillermo Rigondeaux on August 14th, Casimero was notified of a sudden change in opponent. Now, the 32-year-old is set to take on current WBC titlist, Nonito Donaire (41-6, 27 KOs). The 38-year-old became the oldest bantamweight champion of all time recently, as he stopped former belt holder Nordine Oubaali just a few weeks ago.
With a future first-ballot Hall of Famer now standing directly in front of him, Casimero claims to be giving him his undivided attention. While he didn’t guarantee a win against him, as he did with Inoue, Casimero does believe that once he straps Donaire’s WBC title around his waist, a showdown against Inoue will be inevitable.
“I will do my best to win. Inoue, See you soon.”