By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Naoya “Japanese Monster” Inoue had enough of Filipino boxing superstar Johnriel Casimero’s taunting and fight antics.
Casimero once again called out Inoue in his post-match interview during his bout against Guillermo Rigondeaux, adding that the Japanese champion is scared of him.
Surprisingly, Inoue broke his silence and said will accept Casimero’s challenge under one condition: strict doping tests.
“We firmly ask for strict doping tests so that the match will be made. I hope it happens this year,” said the undefeated Japanese bantamweight king.
Casimero’s victory against Rigondeaux increased his bid of a fight against Inoue but is yet to be decided as he also called out his kababayan Nonito Donaire Jr. for a match.
Initially, Casimero was scheduled to take on Donaire Jr. in a bantamweight All-Filipino clash with two belts at stake but a back-and-forth verbal tussle between the two camps eventually led to the fight being scrapped.
If the Casimero-Inoue mega-fight will be finalized this year, four belts will be at stake for bantamweight supremacy with the Filipino currently holding the WBO title while the Japanese is the current IBF, WBA, and Ring Magazine champion.
Inoue is coming off a momentum-boosting victory after taking down Filipino rising star Michael Dasmariñas via knockout.
Meanwhile, the confident Casimero just notched his seventh straight professional win after his victory over Rigondeaux via split decision.
