Casimero Vs Donaire off?
Just a week ago it was announced that WBO Bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero (30-4, 21) would be facing WBC Bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (41-6, 27) in August in a unification bout between the two Filipino punchers. Now however it appears that bout been killed off due to issues regarding drug testing, and Casimero's team refusing to do VADA testing in a manner that was transparent.
The issues had rumbled on for a day or two, and it appears that the issues regarding the testing haven't managed to be sorted out in time for the teams to continue working towards their August 14th date.
The issues had rumbled on for a day or two, and it appears that the issues regarding the testing haven't managed to be sorted out in time for the teams to continue working towards their August 14th date.
Sources say that the fight between Nonito Donaire and J. Casimero is off because of the off the lack of ''transparency and enrollment into the VADA drug testing program'' by Casimero. This fight was scheduled for Aug 14th... #boxing
— Steve Kim (@SteveKim323) June 26, 2021
At the moment it's unclear what will happening regarding the two men, though it is worth noting that Donaire himself was a replacement opponent for the date, with Casimero originally being scheduled to defend his title against Cuban veteran Guillermo Rigondeaux (20-1-0-1, 13). There is a chance the Cuban will step back in to face Casimero, who is still training with the focus on fighting on August 14th, but there is also a chance that plans will again have to change.
As for Donaire the speculation is that he could be offered a rematch with WBA "Super" and IBF champion Naoya Inoue (21-0, 18) [井上 尚弥], or may end up being forced to make a mandatory defense of his title, with the WBC having a messy situation in regards to their world title.
We suspect clarification will be made over the coming days, for both Donaire and Casimero, and hopefully cooler heads will prevail and the bout can be sorted out, the drug testing can be agreed on and we end up with this bout actually being "re-made". But that's, of course, looking highly unlikely at this moment in time.