JOHN RIEL CASIMERO BEGINS ROAD BACK TO CONTENTION AGAINST KENYA YAMASHITA
John Riel Casimero is hoping to reassert himself as a contender once again when he faces Japan’s Kenya Yamashita on February 16 at the Midas Hotel and Casino in Pasay City, Philippines.
Casimero, a former titleholder at 108 and 112 pounds, didn’t get going out the gate the way he had wanted to at 115 pounds, losing an upset decision to Jonas Sultan in a world title eliminator for the IBF belt in September of 2017.
He sat out ten months before returning against a journeyman in Mexico last July, and went through a series of managerial moves in the United States before returning to the Philippines to train under his brother Jayson Casimero, a former pro, in their hometown of Ormoc City in the province of Leyte.
BY RYAN SONGALIA