Casimero KOs Lazarte, sparks riot in Argentina

Johnriel Casimero yesterday added another world boxing crown to the country’s brimming collection when he annexed the vacant IBF light flyweight title with a 10th round stoppage of Argentina’s Luis Alberto Lazarte at the Estadio Club Once Unidos in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

The win however, was marred by an ugly riot as fans attacked Casimero, trainer Cristopher “Pingping” Tepora and Promoter Sammy Gello-ani inside the ring minutes after Casimero was declared winner.

Bottles, chairs and other debris were thrown into the ring as fans ignored pleas for sanity. Some angry fans even stepped inside the ring and attacked the Filipinos.

Videos of the riot sparked outrage on the world wide web. Promoter Sammy Gello-ani called this writer yesterday afternoon and recalled their ordeal to CDN.

“It was an even fight at first but Casimero began to dominate Lazarte starting in the middle rounds. He knocked down Lazarte twice in round nine and knocked the Argentinian again in the tenth prompting the referee to stop the fight,” Gello-ani said.

“But the people at ringside could not accept the loss. There were people there from the Argentinian truckers union, where Lazarte is a member and they started to throw bottles and chairs. They entered the ring and attacked us. My friend, Oswaldo Bravo had to pull Casimero out from the mob and hide him under the ring,” Gello-ani continued. “I was kicked, Pingping was punched. But we are safe now and we are guarded by the local police.”

Gello-ani said all three of them suffered bruises. “But I can take it, we can take it. We are celebrating Johnriel’s victory. This is a birthday gift that he will offer to the entire Filipino nation.”

Casimero will celebrate his 22nd birthday this Monday, Feb. 13.

Casimero’s next fight is against Ulises Solis of Mexico, who failed to defend his belt on time because of a broke jaw resulting from a much-publicized street brawl. He was supposed to defend his title last January.

The Solis-Casimero encounter is scheduled in June. nd face Casimero.

Another future Argentina vs. Philippines flashpoint is the upcoming defense of WBO female superbantamweight champion Ana “The Hurricane” Julaton in Argentina this March 16 against Yesica Patricia Marcos.