Naoya Inoue vs. John Riel Casimero Announced For April 25 On ESPN+
“The Monster” has a set date for his Top Rank debut.
Top Rank announced that WBA and IBF bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue will face WBO champion John Riel Casimero in a three-belt unification at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on April 25. The fight will headline an ESPN+ card.
Inoue’s move to the bantamweight division has largely been highlighted by huge, swift knockouts on numerous top contenders and champions. Inoue entered the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight tournament and advanced to the finals with knockout wins over Juan Carlos Payano and Emmanuel Rodriguez, both wins coming in the first or second round. In the tournament finals, Inoue unified the WBA and IBF titles with a unanimous decision win over Nonito Donaire in a 2019 “Fight of the Year” contender.
Casimero, a three-division titlist, has been riding a huge wave of momentum after losing to super flyweight contender Jonas Sultan in 2017 and then moving up to bantamweight. Casimero won the interim WBO bantamweight title in April 2019 with a win over Ricardo Espinoza and then scored a win against Cesar Ramirez last August. Back in November, Casimero stopped Zolani Tete to win the WBO world title.
Also announced for the show is a 10-round bantamweight bout between contenders Joshua Greer Jr. and Jason Moloney. Greer has won 19 straight fights emerging as one of the division’s top young contenders while Moloney is looking for another world title shot after coming up short against Rodriguez in the WBSS quarterfinals in 2018, losing the bout by split decision. Since then, Moloney picked up three straight wins, all inside the distance.
The other fight that was announced features former WBA “Regular” super featherweight champion Andrew Cancio taking on Tyler McCreary. This will be Cancio’s Top Rank debut after his time with Golden Boy Promotions ended. Cancio won the WBA title with a fourth-round KO victory over Alberto Machado in February 2019 and then retained the belt in a rematch last June. Cancio lost the title to Rene Alvarado back in November.
