John Reil Casimero stops Duke Micah in impressive fashion

Three-division champion and current WBO bantamweight titleholder John Riel Casimero (30-4, 21 KOs) stopped previously unbeaten Dule Micah in round three at Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. Saturday night.

The time was 54 seconds.

Micah (24-1, 19 KOs) did pretty well in the opening stanza, stabbing the aggressive Casimero with jabs and a shot to the chin. Casimero landed his own shot seconds before, a blow that seemed to stun Micah for a second.

“In the first round [I hit him with] a body shot and [I heard], ‘Ooh!,’ ” said Casimero. “Then I hit him with a hook and I heard, ‘Oh, sh-t!’ I think maybe first round [I would knock him out], but that’s a good boxer. … Duke Micah, all my punches, he eat.”

Round two was more of the same. Micah landed a shot on the 9-1 favorite that stopped Casimero in his tracks. But not for long. He pursued and left fly with a beauty of left hook that crumbled Micah.

The challenger from Ghana was badly hurt. He beat the count and staggered. It appeared that referee Steve Willis came very close to waving the contest off, but decided to give Micah a chance to recover. Casimero jumped on his wounded prey – unloading bombs. A right buckled Micah’s knee’s but he somehow made it to the end of the round.

The ring physician checked Micah before round three was commence. He advised Willis to keep a close eye on Micah. Willis told Micah he needed to ’see something’ or he’d call the fight. Micah, still looking shaky, tried to keep Casimero off him in the early seconds of round three, but the champion wasn’t to be denied.

He quickly charged forward and pummeled Micah, forcing Willis to call the fight off.

Casimero was scheduled to fight undefeated bomber Naoya Inoue last April in Sin City. The fight was cancelled due to Covid-19 but not rescheduled. Inoue fights Jason Moloney next month.

“I’m the real monster,” said Casimero. “Naoya Inoue is scared of me. You’re next. I would have knocked out anyone today. If Inoue doesn’t fight me, then I’ll fight Guillermo Rigondeaux, Luis Nery, or any of the top fighters.”