Heredia rejoins Casimero for unification vs Inoue

MANILA, Philippines – Strength and conditioning guru Memo Heredia had rejoined Johnriel Casimero’s training camp. Will the fight with Naoya Inoue be far behind?

The new target for Casimero’s collision with the Japanese ‘Monster’ is on July 25 and the arrival of Heredia in Las Vegas on Tuesday, May 26 (Wednesday, May 27, Philippine time) signals their bantamweight unification is likely to push through.

Originally, Casimero-Inoue was supposed to be on April 25 at MGM Grand but got pushed back owing to the COVID 19-pandemic.

As a result, Casimero, head coach Nonoy Neri, assistant trainer Ting Ariosa and Jayson Casimero got caught by the lockdown and have been holed up in a four-bedroom provided by MP (Manny Pacquiao) Promotions president Sean Gibbons, a Las Vegas resident.

Despite an earlier announcement of Top Rank big boss Bob Arum that Casimero-Inoue had been put in the back burner, Team Casimero continued working out, hoping Inoue, the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association titlist who held training camp in Guam and continued his workouts in Japan, will be able to fly to the United States on June 1.

In a video, Gibbons, who regularly visits Team Casimero to provide motivation and monitor their progress, was shown driving Heredia to Casimero’s quarters.

The renowned Mexican is no stranger to Casimero having supervised the pride of Ormoc, Leyte’s conditioning when he knocked out Zolani Tete in 3 rounds for the World Boxing Organization crown last November in Birmingham, England.

For his successful work, Gibbons entrusted Heredia and Cuban coach Pedro Roque to whip Casimero into shape in Miami in February. They did their part as Neri found out upon his arrival in Florida.

Sans Heredia, Team Casimero proceeded to Las Vegas supposedly for the final phase of preparations for the canceled bout.

Now that chances are bright for Casimero-Inoue will happen, Gibbons wasted no time to bring in Heredia again.

Gibbons knows Heredia is a vital component of the overall blueprint to topple the Monster. – Rappler.com