By JONAS TERRADO
John Riel Casimero scored a third round TKO win over Duke Micah to successfully defend the WBO bantamweight title for the first time Saturday (Sunday morning, Manila time) in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Casimero knocked down the Ghanaian-born Micah in the second round with a left hook to the temple before continuing the onslaught in the third, forcing referee Steve Willis to stop the fight held without fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena at 0:54.
It was a dominant win for Casimero, who improved his ring record to 30 wins and four defeats after appearing for the first time in front of a US pay-per-view audience.
The Casimero-Micah fight was in the undercard of a Showtime doubleheader featuring the Charlo twins in separate world title bouts.
In beating Micah, Casimero set himself up for a potential clash with Japanese Naoya Inoue, who is scheduled to take on New Zealand’s Jason Moloney on Oct. 31.
The 30-year-old native of Ormoc City, Leyte also dealt Micah his first loss in 13 professional fights.
