Johnriel Casimero gets a special call out from fellow Filipino after successful title defense

Reigning WBO world super bantamweight world champion Johnriel Casimero has gotten himself a surprise callout following the first successful defense of his title against Duke Micah on Sunday at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, USA.

Casimero, 31, needed just three rounds to dispose the previously unbeaten pug from Ghana as he relentlessly attacked his foe from the opening bell en route to a third-round technical knockout victory, improving his record to 30-4, 21 knockouts.

Shortly after his win, one-time world title challenger Jonas Sultan issued a challenge to the champ after Casimero's latest win.

They previously met inside the ring in 2017 where Sultan triumphed by way of unanimous decision after a twelve-round back-and-forth slugfest between two Filipinos.

“And still! I am happy for Johnriel Casimero. I'm impressed with his skills and conditioning. Congratulations!” said Sultan in a video sent to GMA News Online.

“I want to fight him again so at least we can finish our story. It would be a good fight.”

Casimero made it clear shortly after beating Micah that he wants a unification showdown with the WBA and IBF world bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue. They were originally slated to fight earlier this year but the COVID-19 pandemic caused the bout to fallout.

But if the highly-anticipated match between Casimero and Inoue does not come to fruition, Sultan will be on standby for a rematch with the Filipino world champion.

“I think there’s a 50-50 chance for this fight to happen while they await Inoue. Johnriel wasn’t convinced when he was beaten by Jonas so there has to be another match to decide the score,” said Rocky Chan, spokesperson of Sultan’s new handler ZC Kings International Boxing Promotion.

For Sultan, a second fight with Casimero is the champ's chance to prove that he is capable of beating him while the former also wants to prove that is capable of competing against world class fighters even after he departed ALA Boxing.

“Hopefully both fighters would get to prove themselves. Casimero may want to prove that he can beat Jonas as Jonas wants to prove that he can still compete on the world stage even though he is not with ALA anymore.” — LA, GMA News