BY NICK GIONGCO
Japanese puncher Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue could end up facing a scarier version of himself on April 25 in Las Vegas.
Filipino hitter John Riel Casimero told sportswriters on Wednesday that he – and not the guy with the hair-raising nom de guerre – is the real deal and he will prove it when they square off at the Mandalay Bay.
“I am the hardest hitter among the all the bantamweights,” Casimero said with confidence during a lively sendoff press conference at the Amelie Hotel.
The media Q&A was filled with antics.
A standee of Inoue was placed on the dais and Casimero clowned with it to the delight of the attendees, a far cry from the business-like atmosphere a few days ago in Tokyo when Inoue held his own presser.
While admitting that Inoue, the holder of the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation belts is a formidable foe, he feels that he is the better fighter.
“Inoue has this shock punch that he throws and I should be very careful but I believe that I hit harder than him,” said Casimero, who will put his World Boxing Organization(WBO) crown on the line in their unification battle.
MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons, who represents Casimero, is tickled pink by the matchup.
“You seldom see fights starting two fighters in their prime fighting in a unification (fight),” said Gibbons, who also represents Manny Pacquiao and the country’s two other Filipiono world champions Jerwin Ancajas and Pedro Taduran.
Casimero, who turns 30 on Feb. 13, has a 29-4 win-loss cared with 20 Kos and is coming off a brutal win over Zolani Tete of South Africa to win the WBO 118-lb title.
Inoue, who turns 27 two weeks before the Casimero clash, parades a 19-0 slate with 16 KOs.
In his last fight, Inoue beat four-division champion Nonito Donaire on points in a brutal slugfest.
To get ready for Inoue, Casimero will spend three weeks in Miami under the care of renowned strength and conditioning coach Memo Heredia, best known for his work with Juan Manuel Marquez.
“He’s the same guy who did work with somebody who did something to you know whom,” said Gibbons, referring to Heredia’s involvement in the fourth fight between Marquez and Manny Pacquiao that ended with Marquez towering over a motionless and face-down Pacquiao on the deck many years ago.
Casimero leaves for the States on Thursday and will relocate from sunny Florida to Las Vegas for the final push in the first week of March.
Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank, who signed Inoue to a contract following the Donaire victory, is putting up the match that has all the trappings of an explosive encounter.
