Casimero: I will slay ‘Monster’

John Riel Casimero couldn’t wait to face Naoya Inoue following his demolition of Nonito Donaire Jr. in their bantamweight title match late Tuesday at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.,Casimero, the brash former World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion, said he can easily dominate the 29-year-old Japanese, who has been crowned as the best fighter in the bantamweight division after unifying the World Boxing Confederation, World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation titles.,Casimero admitted that the man dubbed as “Monster” for his monstrous boxing prowess is better, more skilled as he floored the 39-year-old Donaire in the first round before dropping him with a thunderous left that prompted referee Michael Griffin to stop the fight after 84 seconds in Round 2.,,Still, Casimero believes that he can avenge the loss that made a dent in Donaire’s storied career.,“Bawi tayo (Let’s bounce back),” Casimero said on his social media page shortly after the devastating, shocking stoppage that shook the boxing world to its foundation.,“It’s okay, bro Nonito Donaire Jr. Congrats tayo, Naoya Inoue. But I’m still the ace.”,Casimero has been mocking the Japanese supremo, hoping to land a megabuck fight in which he will stake his WBO crown.,They were first supposed to lock horns in Las Vegas in April 2020, but their battle got shelved due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.,Both camps tried to salvage the fight, but it didn’t push through, prompting Casimero to defend his title against Duke Micah and Guillermo Rigondeaux.,Casimero was supposed to face Paul Butler in Dubai in December, but the fight fell through after the Filipino complained of “viral gastritis” days before climbing the ring.,Their fight was pushed back to April in Liverpool, but Casimero again made another massive blunder when he used a sauna to trim weight, a grave offense that prompted the WBO to strip him of his crown in favor of Butler.,Inoue, on the other hand, successfully retained his crowns against Jason Moloney, Michael Dasmariñas, Aran Dipaen and Donaire.,Now, Casimero wants a piece of Inoue not just to gain another shot at the throne, but also to avenge a sorry setback that pushed his countryman to the brink of retirement.