by Ronnie Nathanielsz

Promising young Filipino Johnreil “Quadro Alas”  Casimiro who is undefeated in 13 fights with 7 wins coming by way of knockouts shocked Colombia’s Cesar Canchila to win the WBO light flyweight interim title with an 11th round TKO at the Estadio Nacional in Managua, Nicaragua.

WBO Asia Pacific president Leon Manoncillo informed us that Casimiro dropped Canchila  in the 3rd, 6th and 9th rounds before sending him to the canvas twice more in the 11th forcing the referee to stop the bout and award the 19 year old Filipino a well-deserved TKO victory.

Panoncillo took pride in the fact that he has helped many fighters in Asia to become somebody and said Casimiro “proved to be another gem from the Philippines.” 

Well-known international matchmaker and promoter Sampson “Picasso” Lewkowicz helped get Casimiro the break in the major boxing card staged in memory of the great Alexis Arguello, the late Mayor of Managua.

Casimiro is the reigning WBO Asia Pacific champion while Canchila is a former world champion and is currently ranked No.2 by the WBO. He has a record of 28-2 with 22 knockouts.

Casimiro’s career has been steered by promoter Sammy Gello-ani who told us before the fight that he was hoping Casimiro’s first title bid would be successful even as he said “It is a great honor for us, Filipinos, to be part of this major boxing event in Nicaragua. It is seldom for this kind of endeavor to happen. This is a Christmas Wish come true for Casimiro - fighting for a major world title and being part of a very laudable project.”

Gello-ani added that “we simply cannot let this big break for Casimiro pass. I am very optimistic that before 2009 ends, we will have another world champion.” He aso expressed his gratitude to Lewkowicz “for his inclusion of a Filipino in this historical boxing event." 

The Filipino promoter noted that based on the record of Canchila, “he is no easy opponent for Casimiro. It will be a quite a task for our Filipino contender.  But with the power and heart of Casimiro, he has a big chance of winning the fight.”

Nonito Donaire Sr was in the corner of Casimiro along with trainer Pingping Tepura.

The 19 year old Casimiro won the vacant WBO Asia Pacific light flyweight title with a 5th round TKO of Thailand’s Liempetch Sor Veerapol on October 3, 2008  and is coming off an 8th round knockout win over Ardin Diale last May 28.

Canchila who is 27 years old won the WBA interim title with a unanimous twelve round decision over Giovanni Segura of Mexico on July 26, 2008 but suffered a 4th round TKO in a rematch with Segura, the hard-hitting reigning champion on March 14, 2009.

In his last fight Canchila scored a 5th round TKO over Charles Luis Campos on July 17, 2009.