Filipino boxer John Riel Casimero has been banned from fighting in Japan for one year after failing to make weight for his super bantamweight match against Saul Sanchez in Yokohama. Casimero was initially two pounds over the 122-pound limit and ultimately weighed in at 123 1/4 pounds on his final attempt. Despite the weight issue, he defeated Sanchez by a first-round stoppage, a victory that would have positioned him for bigger matches.
This isn’t Casimero’s first weight-related setback. In 2021, he missed a weigh-in before his title defense against Paul Butler due to an illness, and in 2022, he lost his WBO title after violating British Boxing Board of Control regulations by using a sauna to cut weight. Although Casimero has expressed interest in fighting Japanese star Naoya Inoue, the chances of that bout appear unlikely given his recent weight struggles.