After Casimero goes the distance with Nghitumbwa, trainer jokes: 'Maybe now Inoue will fight us'

Jayson Casimero, brother and trainer of former three-division champion John Riel Casimero, is hoping to lure Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue to a fight following their win over Fillipus Nghitumbwa this past weekend at Okada Manila in Paranaque.

Casimero, 33-4 with 22 knockouts, went the distance with Nghitumbwa to claim the WBO global super bantamweight championship.

The Namibian put up a tougher fight than expected, but Jayson is willing to take that as a positive, joking that the lack of a knockout might be what could finally get them a showdown with Inoue.

"I instructed him to close the distance to not allow his opponent to throw punches. I told him to be savvy because Fillipus Nghitumbwa is a crafty fighter," Jayson told the media after the fight.

"I guess it is good that we finished the whole twelve rounds because maybe now Naoya Inoue will finally fight us."

Casimero and Inoue were supposed to meet inside the ring in 2020 but the bout was called off because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Team Casimero has repeatedly called out the Japanese pound-for-pound star since then but their callouts have yet to yield a mega fight between the two. Inoue had previously said on his Twitter account that he had lost interest in a fight with Casimero.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News