Johnriel Casimero feels four-division legend Nonito Donaire has reached the end of the road.
“He doesn’t have anything more to prove,” Casimero said after watching how youthful Japanese puncher Riku Masuda score an eighth-round technical knockout win on Sunday in Yokohama.
Casimero’s online remarks drew flak from some fans but the outspoken three-division champion was simply being real.
“I knew in the sixth round that he was no longer in the fight and that he could get seriously hurt,” said Casimero, who returns to the ring next month against Mexican warhorse Luis Nery in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
And that’s exactly what happened late in the seventh round when Masuda, younger by 15 years at 28, sent Donaire crashing to the deck using boxing’s classic combo, a left straight that was set up by a right jab.
Not a native Tagalog speaker, Casimero labeled Donaire’s recent performance as “garbage” although citing that he showed a lot of courage in taking on Masuda.
“That’s the fighting spirit of boxers. I know how it feels.”
Despite the unsavory remarks, Casimero acknowledged Donaire’s legacy, someone whose spot in the Hall of Fame is secured.
In the end, Casimero swears he won’t allow himself to go out the way Donaire did, stressing that the moment he feels that he can no longer fight, he will just retire and enjoy the money he’s earned.
During his prime, Donaire won world titles at flyweight, bantam, super-bantam and feather.
But in the last few years, he has been inconsistent and two losses to Naoya Inoue have been credited to his decline.