BY NICK GIONGCO
Locked down in Las Vegas and unable to fly back to the Philippines owing to the pandemic, world boxing champion John Riel Casimero is doing his best to kill time and looking forward to the day when everything clears up.
Though when exactly that day will come remains a question that nobody has the authority to answer but Casimero, who was supposed to fight on April 25 at Mandalay Bay, is trying to keep a straight face each passing day.
A few days ago, Sean Gibbons, who heads MP Promotions, dropped by his rented house, joined him outside for training and went out to buy basic necessities.
During the Easter celebration, Gibbons visited Casimero again dressed in a bunny costume and horsed around with the homesick boxer, his brother Jayson and trainers Ting Ariosa and Nonoy Neri.
Casimero was slated to face two-belt holder Naoya Inoue of Japan in a three-belt bantamweight clash but the coronavirus forced the postponement of the fight alongside the other shows being put up not only by Top Rank but by other outfits as well.
Casimero has been in the US since the second week of February, setting up training camp in Miami before heading to Las Vegas last month.
Nevada has cancelled all cards not only in April but the whole of May and there is suspicion that those penciled for June might also get axed.
Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum told the Las Vegas Sun that he has urged Casimero and all Top Rank talents, including Jerwin Ancajas, whose April 12 date also fell victim to the pandemic, to be patient.
Unlike Casimero, Ancajas didn’t get to fly to the US when Nevada decided to move the cards further back.
“They all want to know when they can go again. I say, “I’m not Dr. (Anthony) Fauci. Ask him. He knows better than me,” Arum told the paper, referring to the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US.
“As old as I am, I wasn’t around in 1919 for the Spanish flu so I don’t know how that compared with this, but this is really frightening how the pandemic is going all over the globe and how many people are
affected by it and how many deaths we’ve had.”
At this point in time, Arum doesn’t mind getting sidelined.
“I think people should be paying attention to that and not worry about boxing matches not being held.”
That should be enough to convince Casimero and Ancajas and their fellow Top Rank pals to observe a wait-and-see attitude.
