Casimero calls out Inoue: ‘He’s scared of me’
Naoya Inoue has a fight set for October, but John Riel Casimero is already calling him out.
John Riel Casimero was supposed to be fighting Naoya Inoue in a three-belt unification at bantamweight this summer, but when that fight was scrapped due to COVID issues, the two had to move on, at least for the time being, and make other plans.
Inoue will defend his WBA and IBF titles on Oct. 31, facing Jason Moloney inside Top Rank’s Las Vegas “bubble.” Last night, Casimero defended his WBO title successfully with a third round stoppage of Duke Micah.
Casimero, who has rather quietly won world titles in three weight classes over his career, has been calling for Inoue ever since he went to the United Kingdom and upset Zolani Tete in 2019 to win that WBO belt. He’s wanted the fight bad, and he still does, as he showed at his post-fight press conference on Saturday:
John Riel Casimero’s funny call-out of “motherf***er” Naoya Inoue after his win over Duke Micah tonight…
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) September 27, 2020
[ @PremierBoxing] pic.twitter.com/xZbPxlkVW1
“I’m strong, man! Inoue! Come on, man!” Casimero barked. “You’re a monster, motherfucker?! You are no monster, you are a Japanese turtle, not a monster, man! Inoue is scared of me, fuck, motherfucker! Come on, man, you’re next!”
Casimero was a bit more PG in a follow-up Tweet, but same message:
y'all know who i want next
— John Riel Casimero (@casimerojr) September 27, 2020
The 31-year-old Filipino fighter definitely has personality to burn, and unlike a lot of guys who make call-outs like this, he seems to genuinely feel he can beat Inoue, and like he truly has absolutely no fear whatsoever of the man they do call “The Monster.”
If Inoue is successful against Jason Moloney in about a month, I’m hoping this gets revisited and signed. At this point, I really want to see it, as not only is it a meaningful fight at 118, and one that promises action one way or another, but there’s some steam behind it and seeing a guy so aggressively call out someone with Inoue’s reputation is fun, and Inoue being so generally reserved on the other side kinda makes it even better.