THREE-DIVISION world champion Johnriel Casimero had an anticlimactic ending to his ring return after his fight with former world title challenger Ryo Akaho last Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, at the Paradise City Plaza in Incheon, South Korea was declared a no-contest.
Casimero was very aggressive at the get-go and landed some vicious bombs that hurt Akaho.
In the second round, Akaho was credited with a knockdown after a counter left hook that caught Casimero from an awkward position. It looked more like Casimero was outbalanced than hurt.
After the referee’s count, Casimero looked more aggressive and battered Akaho with some haymakers. He wobbled Akaho with a solid left hook to the head and attempted to finish him off with an array of different punches. Unfortunately, Casimero grazed the back of the head of Akaho with a right hook. Akaho couldn’t continue and the fight was declared a no-contest.
Casimero hasn’t had much luck this year. He was stripped of his World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight belt after failing to defend his belt against mandatory challenger Paul Butler.
Casimero is 31-4 with 21 knockouts, while Akaho is 39-2-2 with 26 knockouts.
Meanwhile, Rimar Metuda lost to 18-year-old World Boxing Association (WBA) Asia light welterweight champion Phoobadin Yoohanngoh in Thailand.
Phoobadin got the nod of all three judges with scores of 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91.
Phoobadin remained undefeated with 15-0 with nine knockouts, while Metuda fell to 16-7-1 with 10 knockouts.