Former world champion John Riel Casimero renewed his call for a fight with Naoya Inoue following his TKO victory over Luis Nery.
On June 6, 2026, in Aichi, Japan, Casimero defeated Nery by technical knockout in the fourth round. This improved Casimero's record to 36-5-1 while Nery fell to 37-3. In a Facebook post, Casimero wrote that now everyone knows why Inoue is afraid of him. He added that knocking down Nery felt like beating Inoue because both are strong. Casimero also said he chose to fight despite Nery coming in overweight because he wanted to prove his ability inside the ring. The bout had originally been scheduled for mid-April in Kyrgyzstan but was postponed due to conflict in the Middle East.
