Casimero likely to fight Greer instead of Inoue

MANILA, Philippines – Johnriel Casimero’s straight path to Naoya Inoue just became longer.

Now, the Filipino firebrand needs to pass by Joshua Greer first before he can resume his hunt for the Japanese monster.

The detour came about after Top Rank Promotions head honcho Bob Arum opted to put the postponed Casimero-Inoue bantamweight unification showdown in the back burner amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Casimero, the World Boxing Organization champion, and Inoue, the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation titlist, were supposed to clash on April 25, but all fight cards up to May in Las Vegas got scrapped.

Since Casimero is already in town, while Inoue remained holed up in Japan, Arum had to look for another opponent.

And Greer is a viable, credible choice.

Greer, an American, is Casimero’s top challenger and Inoue’s No. 2 contender in the IBF.

The 25-year-old Greer, who holds a 22-1-1 (12 knockouts) record, is a Top Rank fighter and is also in shape because he was scheduled to fight Jason Moloney in what should have been the chief support of the Casimero-Inoue bout.

“One of the possible fights we’re talking about for [Casimero] is Joshua Greer, our kid from Chicago,” Arum told BoxingScene.com. “He was going to fight Jason Moloney, so we could have him fight Casimero. That’s a good, competitive fight.”

While Greer’s 50% knockout rate is not as impressive as Inoue’s 84%, the WBO North American Boxing Organization champion is also a dangerous puncher – his stoppage of then unbeaten James Smith in 2017 being chosen as candidate for Knockout of the Year.

Like Casimero, Greer wants to tangle with Inoue (19-0, 16 KOs) and he holds no fear of both champions.

If Casimero-Greer pushes through, the winner gets the ticket to fight Inoue, according to Arum.

“I talked to Mr [Akihiko] Honda and Inoue’s people from Japan [on Thursday],” Arum told BoxingScence.com. “We’re thinking of bringing him over to the United States. The problem we have, of course, is the travel ban.”

“Can we get a Japanese fighter into the country under these circumstances? I don’t know. Right now, what we’re concentrating on is American fighters or foreign fighters who are here in the United States.”

“That way, we don’t have to worry about bringing them in from abroad for the fights we can do in the beginning.”

Either Arum is telling the truth or he finds Casimero too risky for Inoue’s debut in the United States. – Rappler.com