Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions will head to the Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, England for a WBO bantamweight championship bout pitting South African champion Zolani Tete against hard hitting Filipino challenger John Riel Casimero. The fights will be shown on Live Stream in the United States on ESPN+ and in the UK on BT Sport.
Zolani Tete (28-3, 21 KOs) is 31-year-old southpaw from South Africa who at 5’9 tall is a giant among other 118 pound bantamweights.
Tete was originally scheduled to unify his WBO world title against WBA champion Nonito Donaire in the semi-finals of the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight tournament but he suffered a shoulder injury during fight week and was forced to pull out of the bout last minute.
Promoter Frank Warren believes Tete has the goods to defeat the fearsome undefeated Japanese puncher Naoya Inoe, who just beat Nonito Donaire in the WBSS finals to unify the WBA and IBF belts and take home the tournament’s Ali Trophy.
After being out for a year since the injury, Tete had time to recover and now he will fight a another Filipino opponent John Riel Casimero and try to make a statement against the tough contender.
John Riel Casimero (28-4, 19 KOs) is a 28-year-old former IBF junior flyweight and flyweight world champion. This fight with Tete will be a chance for the Filipino known as “Four Aces” to become a three division world champion.
Casimero who is promoted by Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions has been on a four fight win streak since losing by decision to fellow Filipino Jonas Sultan in 2017. He has finished his last four opponents and even though at 5’4 he will be at a huge size disadvantage against Tete, he feels his power will help him equalize that.
Fight Card
Bantamweight Championship – Zolani Tete vs. John Riel Casimero (WBO title)
Super Middleweight – Lerrone Richards vs. Lennox Clarke
Light Welterweight – Sam Maxwell vs. Connor Parker
Junior Middleweight – Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Ryan Kelly
Super Featherweight – Sam Bowen vs. Anthony Cacace
Venue:
Watch the Zolani Tete vs. John Riel Casimero Live Stream on Saturday, November 30, 2019 at 11:00 AM PT on ESPN+ in the US and BT Sport in the UK.
