STILL CHAMP. John Riel Casimero pose with his camp after successfully defending his WBO interim bantamweight title at the San Andres Sports Complex in Manila on Saturday night (Aug. 24, 2019). Casimero knocked out Mexico's Cesar Ramirez in 10th round. (PNA Photo by Ivan Saldajeno)
MANILA -- John Riel Casimero successfully defended his World Boxing Organization interim bantamweight title after defeating Mexico's Cesar Ramirez at the San Andres Sports Complex here on Saturday night.
Casimero knocked Ramirez out cold in Round 10 after connecting on an upper cut.
Prior to the finish, Casimero scored knockdowns in the third, fifth, and seventh rounds.
Casimero, who went up to 28-4, is now setting his sights on a unification bout with current champ Zolani Tete of South Africa, who is currently recovering from an injury.
Ramirez’s second defeat in 22 fights snapped his six straight wins mostly by stoppage.
In the co-main event, Vincent Astrolabio stays as the WBO oriental bantamweight titlist after a fifth-round knockout of fellow Filipino Kevin Asiniero.
Astrolabio is now at 14-3, while Asiniero falls to a 9-3-1 win-loss-draw slate.
In a special clash, Charly Suarez remains perfect in his professional career after beating Virgil Puton.
Suarez only needed 100 seconds to knock Puton out as the latter missed out on making the 10-count.
Suarez, who competed in the Rio Olympics in 2016, scored his third straight win in as many bouts. All three wins came by stoppages too. (PNA)
