Moloney wants title fight with Casimero

MANILA, Philippines – After repeatedly calling out Naoya Inoue, it’s Johnriel Casimero’s turn to be challenged.

Upon learning he stands to become No. 1 contender for Casimero’s World Boxing Organization bantamweight crown, Australian Jason Moloney boldly stepped forward.

“[I want] any champion, really,” Moloney told BoxingScene.com. “I just want to be world champion. I just want that opportunity. If I’m ranked No. 1, yeah, Casimero, let’s go!”

Moloney dislodged Joshua Greer Jr at top spot following the American’s majority decision loss to Filipino prospect Mike Plania on June 16 at The Bubble, MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Casimero was supposed to tangle with Inoue in a unification on April 25, but the travel lockdown kept the Japanese Monster at home up to now.

Losing hope the fight with Inoue will push through even late this year, Casimero is now exploring other options rather than stay idle in Las Vegas, where he has been holed up in training since February.

While MP (Manny Pacquiao) Promotions president Sean Gibbons still prefers Casimero to tackle Inoue –the World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation champion – the Las Vegas resident is now open to Casimero taking on other notable fighters.

Among those being mentioned are Mexican Pedro Guevarra (36-3-1, 21 knockouts), American Rau’shee Warren (17-3, 4 KOs) and Moloney (21-1, 18 KOs), who impressed Top Rank Promotions honchos with a 7th round technical knockout of Leonardo Baez on June 25.

If negotiations push through, Casimero-Moloney could be the chief support of the lightweight unification between Vasyl Lomachenko and Teofimo Lopez on October 3. – Rappler.com