Pinoy warriors Johnriel Casimero and Vince Paras are both seeing action Sunday night, Oct. 13, 2024, in Japan.
Casimero, a three-division world champion, is facing fellow world-rated super bantamweight Saul Sanchez in the 10-round main event of the Treasure Boxing Promotion 7 show at the Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama.
He reportedly struggled to make the super bantamweight limit of 122 pounds and tipped the scales at 2.1 pounds overweight. He shed the excess weight but still wasn’t able to make the limit at 123.2 pounds on his second attempt.
Sanchez easily made weight at 121.7
The fight, however, reportedly will continue with Casimero wearing heavier 10-ounce gloves.
Casimero already had some weight issues in the past.
The 35-year-old Casimero hasn’t fought for a year and last saw action on Oct. 12, 2023, in a fight in Japan in which he settled to a technical draw with former world champion Yukinori Oguni.
The 27-year-old Sanchez, on the other hand, is coming off a unanimous decision over former world title contender Arthur Villanueva last July 12 in the US.
Casimero is 33-4-1 with 22 knockouts, while Sanchez is 21-3 with 12 knockouts.
On the other hand, Paras is up against former world champion Hiroto Kyoguchi in their third meeting.
Paras and Kyoguchi first fought in 2018 in an International Boxing Federation minimumweight title fight. Kyoguchi walked away the victor with a convincing, unanimous decision.
Six years later, Paras and Kyoguchi would fight again. But this time, Paras avenged his loss and beat Kyoguchi by unanimous decision.
Paras is 21-21-2-1 with 15 knockouts, while Kyoguchi is 18-2 with 12 knockouts. / EKA