LEYTE-PRIDE John Riel Casimero successfully retained his World Boxing Organization world bantamweight championship via split decision against Cuban and former world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux in a far pretty fight on Sunday, August 15, 2021, at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Casimero needs to chase Rigondeaux the whole 12 rounds as the latter keeps on running around the canvas -- to the disapproval of the crowd present inside the venue.
The chase-and-run fight ended with a split verdict as Tim Cheatman favored Rigondeaux with a 115-113 score as Robert Hoyle and Daniel Sandoval sided with Casimero on a 117-111 and 116-112, respectively.
With the victory, Casimeero improved his record to 31 wins, 4 defeats, and 21 knockouts while Rigondeaux dropped to 20 wins, 2 losses, and 13 stoppages.
Casimero is looking for a unification bout against fellow Filipino champion Nonito Donaire or Japanese titlist Naoya Inoue.
In the undercard, Zamboanga-hailed Jonas Sultan improved his record to 17-5 with 11 KOs after stopping St. Louis’ Sharon Carter (12-5, 3 KOs) in the 7th round.
However, Filipino Raymond Tabugo (22-13-1, KOs) was unfortunate when he lost to former world champion Juan Carlos Payano (22-5, 11 KOs) of the Dominican Republic via knockout at the end of the fifth round.
On the other hand, Bacolod City-native and former world title challenger Genesis "Kashimi" Servania suffered a knockout loss at the end of the opening round against undefeated American prospect Andre Cortes (15 wins with 8 KOs) a scheduled 10-round fight at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Las Vegas.
A solid right-left hook combination ended Servania with few ticks left in the first round. With the defeat, Servania dropped to 34 wins, 3 losses with 16 KOs under his name.
Another Filipino fighter Richard Pumicpic (22 wins, 12 losses, 2 draws, and 7 KOs) also lost to undefeated Puerto Rican Abraham Nova (19-0 with 14 KOs) via unanimous decision. (JSG)