MANILA, Philippines — For the third time in his career, Filipino pug Johnriel Casimero incurred a weigh-in debacle for his upcoming fight, this time going overweight in his super bantamweight bout against American Saul Sanchez in Japan.
In the weigh-in on Saturday, Casimero went a kilo heavier than the 55.3kg or 122lbs. limit as he tipped the scales at 56.33kg or 124.12lbs.
Casimero still couldn’t make the weight limit after his second try, weighing 55.9kg or 123.23 lbs.
The fight, which is Casimero’s first in a year, reportedly, will still push through on Sunday at the Yokohama Budokan since there are no belts at stake.
The first time Casimero faced a weigh-in debacle was when he was about to make his WBO bantamweight title defense against Paul Butler in December 2021, not showing up on the weigh-in day due to viral gastritis.
In April the following year, Casimero was then barred from competing as he used sauna to cut weight ‘in close proximity’ to his title defense against Butler.
WBO stripped Casimero of his belt for not being able to defend the bantamweight title twice.
Casimero last saw action on October 12 last year when he settled for a draw against Oguni, who sustained a gash in the fourth round that prompted the referee to stop the fight.
Prior to that draw, Casimero, a former three-division world champ, was on an 8-fight win streak with the last of that run being a unanimous decision win over Nghitumbwa.
Now, ‘Quadro Alas’ tries to get his mojo back as he begins his uphill climb in the super bantamweight division (122 lbs.) where Japanese Naoya Inoue is the unified champion.
The 35-year-old fighter from Ormoc, Leyte sports a 33-4-1 win-loss-draw card.
Meanwhile, the 5-foot-5 Sanchez, who is an inch taller than Casimero, last fought in July this year against Arthur Villanueva, scoring a unanimous decision.
‘The Beast’ is rated in only one world boxing body which is the WBO but only for his former weight category in bantamweight (118 lbs).
The 27-year-old carries a 21-3 win-loss record.
