THE much-anticipated unification bout between World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight champion Johnriel Casimero and World Boxing Association (WBA) Super and International Boxing Federation (IBF) bantamweight king Naoya Inoue on April 25, 2020, at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada has been canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Casimero-Inoue fight along with the March 28, 2020 Quebec City fight between Artur Beterbiev and Meng Fanlong are among the Top Rank events in March and April that has been canceled and will be postponed to a later date.
“The health and safety of our fighters, staff and ESPN’s incredible production team is the most important thing as we plan our next steps,” Top Rank head Bob Arum said in a statement posted at ESPN’s website. “We look forward to the day when we can bring our loyal fans world-class boxing once again, but exercising caution is the most prudent thing to do at this moment.”
Casimero also announced in a live video on his brother’s Facebook page that the fight has been postponed and possibly be moved to May.
Casimero is deep in training in Las Vegas in what should be the biggest fight of his career against the No. 3 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in Inoue.
Meanwhile, Jonas Sultan’s IBF Inter-Continental super flyweight title fight with Ricardo Malajika at Emperor’s Palace in Kempton Park, Guateng, South Africa on March 21, 2020, was also cancelled.
“Yes it’s canceled. They fly today (March 17, 2020) and arrive tomorrow (March 18, 2020) at 6 P.M.,” ALA Gym head trainer Edito Villamor told SunStar Cebu. “There’s still no new date. It’s until further notice for now.”
Sultan will travel back to Cebu with trainer Edmund Villamor.
“We can’t do anything about it. The virus is already there and it’s hard to go through with the events and compromise thehealth of the people,” said Edito.
ALA Promotions is also postponing it’s upcoming ALA on Tour show on March 28, 2020, in Lutopan, Toledo City.
The show is headlined with a fight between Go Hosaka and Boyce Sultan.
“If the virus pandemic dies down then we will decide on a new date,” said Edito. (EKA)