After the considerable amount of smoke has cleared from tonight’s battle of the big men, Las Vegas will look forward to playing host to the little guys. It’s the turn of Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury tonight at The MGM Grand, and then, on April 25 at The Mandalay Bay, it will be bantamweight bangers Naoya Inoue and John Riel Casimero looking to light up Sin City.
Many fans feel they will see a KO tonight, while a KO or stoppage seems to be almost guaranteed when “The Monster” wages war with Casimero. And Japanese star Inoue (really a superstar in his homeland) admits he is feeling the pressure to both win the fight and look good in doing so. Unbeaten at 19-0(16), Inoue tells Japan Forward how he feels as though his career at top level will be on the line in the April 25 fight, and how feels like he has the future of Japanese boxing on his shoulders.
“Right now, I feel as though I’m carrying all the weight on my shoulders,” Inoue said. “If I don’t win a match of this level now, I think my future will be tough. If I’m able to put on a sensational match in Las Vegas, I believe boxing will become more popular in Japan. There is a dream to this profession, because there are no limits to the amount you can earn in boxing.”
Fans are eager to see how Inoue looks in his first fight back after coming through the toughest encounter of his career to date: the FOTY classic with Nonito Donaire. Inoue bled in the fight, he was hit more then ever before and he suffered a broken orbital socket. Can Inoue go back to his knockout ways, or did Donaire take something from the WBA/IBF 118 pound ruler? Casimero says he is actually a harder puncher than Inoue (a bold statement if ever there was one) and he now says he is “the real monster.”
“I want to show I’m the real monster,” Casimero, 29-4(20) said.
Having shocked Zolani Tete to rip ther WBO bantamweight belt, the tough Filipino showed he can really punch. But can he punch as hard as Inoue? Can Casimero take Inoue’s bombs? It’s a great match-up, one that looks set to give us a great fight. And one that will show how it’s not all about the big men of the sport. Also, quite amazingly, a ringside seat can be yours for just $300. If there are any left, that is.