John Riel Casimero made the most of his biggest opportunity on American soil Saturday night.
The Philippines’ Casimero knocked down Duke Micah in the second round and stopped him in the third round of their scheduled 12-round fight for Casimero’s WBO bantamweight title. Referee Steve Willis stopped the action at 54 seconds of the third round in the opener of Showtime Pay-Per-View’s six-fight event at Mohegan Sun Arena.
The 31-year-old Casimero (30-4, 21 KOs), a three-division champion who was a 9-1 favorite, made the first defense of the WBO bantamweight title he won last November 30 by knocking out South Africa’s Zolani Tete (28-4, 21 KOs) in the third round in Birmingham, England. The 29-year-old Micah, the 11th-ranked contender for Casimero’s championship, suffered the first defeat of his seven-year pro career (24-1, 19 KOs).
Casimero was supposed to face Japanese star Naoya Inoue (19-0, 16 KOs), the IBF/WBA bantamweight champ, in a 118-pound title unification fight April 25 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Once it became clear that canceled fight would not be rescheduled anytime soon, Casimero agreed to meet Micah.
Referee Steve Willis warned Micah at the start of the third round that he needed to show him something or he would quickly stop the bout. He took several more power punches from Casimero, which made Willis step between them to stop the action
Micah drilled Casimero with a straight right hand about 40 seconds into the second round. A left hook by Casimero knocked Micah to the canvas just before the halfway point of the second round.
Casimero stops Micah #boxing pic.twitter.com/j4dHH5JrOV
— Fuckie Chinster (@Daily_Bruise) September 26, 2020
Micah was hurt badly, but he answered referee Steve Willis’ count. Casimero tried his best to finish off Micah, who somehow managed to survive his onslaught.
Micah went to the canvas again with 37 seconds to go in the second round, but it was the result of a slip, not one of Casimero’s punches.
Casimero connected with a right hand about 50 seconds into their bout that made Micah hold him. Casimero landed a hard right to Michah’s body in the final minute of the opening round, but Micah clipped Casimero with a right hand that backed up Casimero with about 15 seconds to go in it.
Both boxers threw punches after the bell sounded to end the first round, though none of those shots landed.
SOURCE: https://www.boxingscene.com/casimero-drops-stops-duke-micah-third-results--152035