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| Kenneth Llover ended the year with a message sent to the IBF. |
PASAY--Kenneth Llover stays on as the OPBF bantamweight champion, while John Riel Casimero had a sensational ending to his 2025 campaign following impressive wins on Saturday at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokuname, Japan.
Llover made quick work of Chinese opponent Ayati Sailike via a second-round knockout in his fifth title defense.
Llover imposed his will in Round 1, banking on aggression to limit Sailike's offense, and in Round 2, Llover began the finishing job by knocking Sailike down with a left hook that even hurt Sailike's right ear.
Seconds later, Llover scored another knockdown, and Sailike. still feeling the pain from the first knockdown, failed to make the 10-count, ending the bout at the 2:07 mark of the second phase.
Llover, ranked fifth among the International Boxing Federation's bantamweight title contenders, scored his 12th knockout as he moved up to 17-0 overall, and the win could be enough to persuade the organization to give him a title shot next year.
Sailike lost his 10th bout against 12 wins and three draws.
Just before Llover's win, Casimero knocked out hometown favorite Tom Mizokoshi in his first fight back in Japan in over a year.
Looking to bounce back from a shock loss to Kyonosuke Kameda, Casimero started the bout strong, eventually bloodying Mizukoshi's nose by Round 3.
The end came at the 1:11 mark of Round 5 when Casimero sneaked a left hook into Mizokoshi's guard that knocked the latter down.
Mizokoshi beat the eight-count, but the referee had seen enough as blood continued to flow from the pug's nose.
Casimero moved up to 35-5-1 with 24 KOs, while Mizokoshi fell to 11-6-2.
