John Riel Casimero Draws with Yukinori Oguni in Japan
What looked like a potential barnburner ended in disappointment at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The fight between three-division world champion John Riel Casimero (33-4-1, 22 KOs) and one-time junior featherweight champion Yukinori Oguni (21-2-3, 8 KOs) ended in a four-round technical decision draw.
OFF TO A HOT START
Casimero was on the attack from the opening bell. He wobbled Oguni in the first round with right hands to the head. Oguni fought back hard and had Casimero in retreat for most of round two. But he was hurt again by another Casimero right hand with seconds to go in that round.
After fighting at such a torrid pace, both men seemed to let their foot off the gas in round three. Thirty seconds into round four, an accidental head clash produced a nasty gash over the right eye of Oguni. Bleeding profusely, the ringside doctors inspected Oguni’s eye, ruled he was unfit to continue, and waved the fight over.
Oguni made a good account for himself and was looking to score what would have been the biggest win of his career. It will be interesting to see what is upcoming for Casimero. There’s been uncertainty in his career since being stripped of the WBO bantamweight title in April 2022 after it was ruled that he violated medical guidelines before a scheduled title defense against Paul Butler.
Casimero is now campaigning as a junior featherweight. Ranked third by the WBO and sixth by the IBF at 122, the now 34-year-old could be in line to face the winner of the upcoming fight to determine the undisputed champion in the division between Naoya Inoue and Marlon Tapales.
