John Riel Casimero Stops Saul Sanchez In Round 1, One Day After Making Weight Loss
John Riel Casimero had a much easier time in the ring than on the scale.
The former three-tier lineup salvaged a near-disaster weekend with a first-round knockout of Saul Sanchez. Casimero scored two knockdowns before forcing a stoppage at 2:41 of the opening round Saturday at the Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama, Japan.
Major concerns were expressed about the main event even moving forward after Casimero made weight twice. Saturday’s official weigh-in event saw Casimero initially weigh more than two pounds over the 122-pound contractual limit. He managed to get down to 123 ¼ pounds after the last attempt.
Sanchez’s team has conditionally agreed to go ahead with the fight. Casimero had to commit to two more bells on the day of the fight—once in the morning, and when he arrived at the venue. The visiting Filipino arrived ready at every turn for the entire show to go ahead as planned.
It was all one way traffic from there.
Casimero hurt Sanchez with the first punch he landed in the fight. Sanchez was in trouble and was forced to touch his gloves to the canvas within the first 20 seconds of the fight. Referee Yuji Fukuchi correctly ruled his sequence a ground trial and awarded the mandatory eight points.
Sanchez tried to fight back, managing to land a left hook midway through the round. It angered Casimero, who came back roaring. He missed badly with a left hook but was able to slip a right counter. Casimero makes Sanchez pay with a follow-up left hook to put the California native flat on his back.
Somehow, Sanchez recovered in time to beat the count. Casimero was relentless in his pursuit of closing the show. All punches were thrown with the intention of taking them out. A final right hand sent Sanchez reeling and the referee intervened.
Casimero (34-4-1, 23 knockouts) is now undefeated in his last 15 fights. However, the run includes a draw in his previous fight and his vacating the WBO 118-pound title in England after failing to comply with the weight management rules for the week of the fight.
Sanchez (21-4, 12KOs) is now 3-3 in his past six fights and 1-2 on the year. He opened 2024 with a Fight of the Year-level majority decision in which he lost to then-respected WBO bantamweight champion Jason Moloney. Sanchez also took an eight-round decision over Arthur Villanueva in July, also at bantamweight. His weight gain took a disastrous turn.
Casimero previously held major titles at junior flyweight, flyweight and bantamweight.
He will need to make a big commitment to junior featherweight before he can challenge for the title. Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs) holds The Ring championship and all four major heavyweight titles. The two were supposed to meet in April 2020 in a triple bantamweight title unification, but the pandemic killed those plans.
There have been wild rumors that the fight will return to the schedule in 2025, if Inoue stays at 122.
The big question surrounding Casimero is if there is a promoter willing to take a chance on the troubled 35-year-old. Former 130-pounder Masayuki Ito brought Casimero aboard for his TB Promotions outfit, but was let down by this weekend’s pre-fight events. Inoue’s team has expressed interest in revisiting the fight, but has also demanded more discretion in its events.
