WBO bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero (File photo)
MANILA – John Riel Casimero successfully defended his World Boxing Organization bantamweight championship after beating Cuban opponent Guillermo Rigondeaux on Sunday (Philippine Time) at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
In spite of this, the match, as seen by fans and keen observers alike, did not live up to the hype.
Despite an entertaining first round, the bout became more of a running game down the stretch as Rigondeaux, looking to become the oldest reigning bantamweight champ at age 40, tried to play mind games on Casimero.
Casimero thought he got Rigondeaux in Round 1 after the latter went down the canvass, but the referee ruled it as a slip.
From there, the match became slow-paced in terms of the punches landed as Rigondeaux relied mostly on jabs and merely running the floor to frustrate Casimero.
Rigondeaux even poked fun at Casimero right after Round 6 as he struck a jab at him moments after the bell sounded, prompting the referee to go to Rigondeaux's corner to warn him of possible sanctions if there is a repeat of the said antic.
Casimero got some action going in the later rounds, and it turned out to be enough for him to get the better for a split decision.
Daniel Sandoval scored the bout 116-112 for Casimero, while Robert Hoyle had it 117-111 for him as well. Only Tim Cheatham gave the bout to Rigondeaux, scoring it 115-113.
The match, which saw Casimero moving up to 31-4 and Rigondeaux dropping to 20-2, set a record for the fewest punches landed in total for a match that went the full 12 rounds since CompuBox began counting the strikes in 1985.
Casimero only landed 47 shots, 41 power shots and six jabs, while Rigondeaux scored 44, 28 power punches and 16 jabs, for a total of 91 strikes.
Meanwhile, Jonas Sultan, one of the boxers who defeated Casimero before, showed his might in an American audience after knocking out Sharone Carter of the United States in an undercard bout.
Sultan began his finishing job late into Round 3 after staggering Carter with a left hook.
Sultan then scored another left hook to Carter that once again stunned the latter in the fourth round even as the referee gave a one-point deduction to Carter for too much holding.
The end came in Round 7 after the referee stepped in at the 2:29 mark following a series of power shots from Sultan to Carter.
Sultan scored his 11th knockout win in his pro career even as he moved up to 17-5 overall.
Another Filipino, Raymond Tabugo (22-13-1), fell prey after a fifth-round loss to former world champion Juan Carlos Payano (22-5) of the Dominican Republic. (PNA)
