Dear Johnriel,
I was at ringside when you saved the day for Philippine boxing last Saturday at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Japan.
When you climbed the ring to face Luis Nery, Philippine boxing had already suffered two defeats.
Kenneth Llover came up short against Michael Angeletti and Vince Paras fell to Aoi Yokoyama in the undercard. So it was a tremendous feeling when you beat up Luis Nery as your victory prevented a shutout for Filipino boxers.
Likewise, it was great seeing the crowd — a good number of Japanese — celebrate your win as it brought back memories of my coverage of Manny Pacquiao’s fights all over the world.
You see, you are my favorite fighter next to Pacquiao because you fight to entertain. You are ultra-exciting and colorful and you have paralyzing power.
I have covered your fights on site in the States and even here in Manila and Cebu.
I have dropped by your training sessions (at Victory Plaza Mall in Monumento more than a decade ago) and have written tons of articles about you. I have interviewed you at the gym and most recently at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname several days ago.
Despite your countless antics and failure to make weight, I still regard you as the only guy who can defeat Naoya Inoue because unlike Inoue’s past opponents (except Nonito Donaire), you are not scared of him.
The reason why Inoue has stayed unbeaten is because his challengers are more concerned about not getting hit.
Donaire stood up to him and he almost won.
Inoue is the present-day Mike Tyson.
During Iron Mike’s heyday, his challengers were more focused on defense instead of offense.
They were all intimidated except Evander Holyfield. And look at what Holyfield did to him.
This is the exact reason why I believe that it is you, Johnriel Casimero, who will finally topple the Monster.
You got the traits needed to kill Godzilla: Courage, power and durability.
But there’s one thing that I don’t like about you.
Your aggressive image online is something you have to address.
You’ve been going live dissing and cursing people who don’t deserve to be treated badly.
Because you are leading the attack on people who are not really against you but are just sharing genuine thoughts and views, your rabid followers on your social media account have become like you.
They have enjoyed calling decent people names and tarnishing their reputation as well as if they know lawyer Ed Tolentino personally.
You know what, Johnriel?
Ed is a boxing scholar whose grasp of the sport is not skin-deep unlike the vast majority of the so-called boxing “experts” nowadays whose knowledge of the fight game is as shallow as a stream during the summer season.
I know him from way, way back our collegiate days at the University of Santo Tomas and his boxing knowledge is beyond question.
Well, looking at the guys who follow you and reply and react to your posts, I can now feel why you are somehow becoming a monster yourself.
Johnriel, you have a responsibility to Philippine boxing. You have to conform to moral standards in the community.
Don’t think that because you are the current toast of Philippine boxing, you can already do anything that you wish, including going ballistic online and hurling invectives at any Tom, Dick and Harry who doesn’t jive with your ideas.
Again, I am doing this to help you somehow rebuild your image.
Not everyone who likes your posts is with you all the way.
Mend your ways.
Be like Manny, who represents boxing very well.
Yours sincerely,
A hardcore Casimero fan
