The word war involving American boxing man Sean Gibbons and the camp of John Riel Casimero is heating up.
It has greatly escalated that Gibbons even floated the idea of having Marlon Tapales get into the ring with Casimero in May.
You see, following Tapales’ 10th-round knockout loss to Naoya Inoue in Tokyo, Casimero’s camp came out smoking on social media, lambasting his performance and boasting that Casimero would have done better and beat Inoue.
Likewise, Casimero’s camp lashed at Gibbons’ decision, saying it was tantamount to sending him into the lion’s den.
Gibbons didn’t take it sitting down.
In a series of posts, he also assailed Casimero’s brother-trainer Jayson Casimero’s handling of his brother’s affairs as well as his dark past.
Gibbons and Casimero have been at odds for close to three years now.
The last time they worked together was when Casimero beat Guillermo Rigondeaux in Carson, California, in August 2021.
Then it was downhill as Casimero decided to cut ties with the influential Gibbons and sign up with a foreign promotional outfit before finally forging a pact with a Japanese group.
Since parting ways with Gibbons, who heads the Manny Pacquiao-owned MP Promotions, Casimero has fought thrice, once each in Incheon, Manila and Tokyo.
But he had mixed results.
He won two but the third — against Yukinori Oguni — was declared a draw.
This string of fights has sent his career on a downward spiral.
A mouthwatering matchup with Inoue seems to be not on the horizon as the Japanese pound-for-pound star is facing Luis Nery of Mexico in May and Murodjon Akhmadaliev of Uzbekistan in August and possibly doing one more towards November or December.
That late 2024 fight could be against another marquee name in the super-bantamweight ranks or versus one of the featherweight titleholders as Inoue bids to win a fifth world title.
The feud is certainly hurting the fight game.
Gibbons had offered to help in putting Inoue back on the radar screen but Casimero’s camp was against it.
With Casimero being fed with a steady diet of has-beens, his stock is not improving.
In the latest rankings released by the World Boxing Council, Tapales was ranked No. 3.
And Casimero? No. 8.
It breaks my heart that this duel is in danger of not taking place because Casimero is the only guy who has the ammo that can match that of Inoue’s.
Aside from firepower, Casimero has that macho attitude that can supersede Inoue.
Whether he likes it or not, Casimero committed a wrong move in dumping Gibbons, who boasts of solid connections with all the major sanctioning bodies owing to his utmost professionalism and helpful nature.
Just like what I said last week, for the Inoue fight to happen, Casimero has to join hands with Gibbons.
If not, he will likely end up fighting no-names before age catches up him.
Next month, Casimero will turn 35.
Time is running out.
