Casimero confident over older foe

Saturday, January 28, 2012

AT SOME point in his career, Luis Alberto Lazarte may have been one of the best boxers in his division but at the age of 40, with a 15-year career of 62 fights and a total of 446 brutal rounds, he may just as well be a shell of what he used to be.

Johnreil Casimero will be there to capitalize on the toll that the brutal sport has taken on Argentinean former world champion.

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“I would say he has an 80 percent chance of winning because he has prepared for so long and his opponent is older,” said Casimero’s promoter, SGG Promotions head Sammy Gello-ani

Casimero (15-2, 9 KOs) and Lazarte (49-10-2, 18 KOs) will be in a 12-round world title fight for the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight crown, vacated by Ulises Solis on Feb. 10 at the Club Once Unidos in Argentina.

Casimero trained rigidly for a world title fight immediately following his successful comeback, an impressive second round technical knockout over the rugged Roemart Sentillas last Oct. 15 at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City.

Before his successful comeback after a layoff for almost seven months, Casimero suffered back-to-back losses in world title fights against unbeaten IBF flyweight champion Moruti Mthalane and former World Boxing Organization (WBO) light flyweight king Ramon Garcia.

“I lacked the endurance and preparation then. Now, I’m confident because I trained hard for this fight,” said Casimero, who became the interim WBO light flyweight titlist with an upset over Cesar Canchilla in 2009.