TWO-DIVISION world champion Johnriel Casimero scored a 10th-round technical knockout (TKO) win over British boxer Charlie Edwards to retain his International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight belt on Sunday at the O2 Arena in London, England.
The previously unbeaten Edwards learned a painful lesson from the 26-year-old pride of Ormoc, Leyte, when Casimero landed a banging left hook that sent his taller opponent kissing the canvas with 1:32 left in Round 10.
Edwards, a former amateur standout fighting only for his ninth professional bout, managed to beat the 10-count, and the much-experienced Casimero wasted no time, as he surged toward Edwards for a hail of punches until the referee waived the match off in the 1:57 mark.
Casimero improved to 23 wins against three loses and 15 KOs. He won the title and blemished the record of Thailand’s Amnat Ruenrong on May 25 in Beijing, China.
The 23-year-old Edwards of Sutton, United Kingdom, meanwhile, dropped his first bout of his young career (8-1). The two boxers fought in the undercard of the Gennady Golovkin-Kell Brook showdown in the main event, where the 34-year-old Golovkin won via fifth-round stoppage to retain his middleweight titles.
Casimero landed more accurate punches on Edwards and proved to be more powerful due to his string of impressive wins, which included his title-clinching victory over Mexican Pedro Guevarra via split decsion for the IBF light-flyweight crown in 2012.
The Filipino utilized his jabs to pin down the aggression of the Briton in the early rounds. Edwards found some opening in the fifth round and stacked up some clean shots in the sixth, but Casimero proved to be steadier when he unleashed body and uppercut combinations in the seventh round.
The 5-foot-4 Casimero, who gave up 2-inch height disadvantage to Edwards, continued to batter his foe with much control inside the ring en route to his devastating finish in the 10th round.
With the convincing victory, Casimero joined the list of Filipino champions, namely, World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior featherweight champion Nonito Donaire Jr., WBO bantamweight king Marlon Tapales and IBF junior bantamweight titleholder Jerwin Ancajas.
Image credits: AP