By Ivan Saldajeno
MANILA--John Riel Casimero became the third active Filipino world boxing champion after stopping Amnat Ruenroeng in their rematch for the IBF flyweight belt on Wednesday night.
Casimero, who lost in his first meeting with Ruenroeng via unanimous decision on June 27, 2015 for the said title, made sure the match will not go through the cards as he knocked out Ruenroeng in the fourth round of their second showdown to finally take the belt.
The bout was initially scheduled to be a non-title fight as Casimero, who had weight issues that forced him to vacate his IBF junior flyweight belt early to his career, and Ruenroeng both failed to make weight during the official weigh-in, but the IBF still put the flyweight belt on the line with the condition that both pugs have to make weight in another weigh-in hours before the fight, which they did.
Both fighters started the match at a slow pace but with the erstwhile champ connecting on some shots to the challenger in Round 1.
Casimero then began to get active in the second round, getting aggressive on Ruenroeng later in the round before opting to keep it slow in the third.
The tides, however, changed early in the fourth round when Casimero landed a left hook to the head of Ruenroeng that sent the latter to the canvass for the knockdown
The bout was initially scheduled to be a non-title fight as Casimero, who had weight issues that forced him to vacate his IBF junior flyweight belt early to his career, and Ruenroeng both failed to make weight during the official weigh-in, but the IBF still put the flyweight belt on the line with the condition that both pugs have to make weight in another weigh-in hours before the fight, which they did.
Both fighters started the match at a slow pace but with the erstwhile champ connecting on some shots to the challenger in Round 1.
Casimero then began to get active in the second round, getting aggressive on Ruenroeng later in the round before opting to keep it slow in the third.
The tides, however, changed early in the fourth round when Casimero landed a left hook to the head of Ruenroeng that sent the latter to the canvass for the knockdown
Casimero then connected another left hook to Ruenroeng's body, knocking the latter down for good as the referee called it a match at the 2:11 mark of the fourth frame.
Casimero improved to 22-3, scoring his 14th stoppage victory, while handing his Thai opponent his very first loss.
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