Every boxer’s joy is to become a world champion. On September 26, Duke Micah will have an opportunity to achieve that against John Riel Casimero.
It is going to be the perfect chance for the Ghanaian to add his name to greatness. That achievement has been a long held target throughout his career.
With the fantasy now assuming reality, the Ghanaian must just grab the opportunity offered him by the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC). That is the only way to be recognised in Ghana and among the elite boxers in the division.
Winning is the only way to be recognised in every aspect of life. After all, success they say has a lot of friends as compared to failure.
It is one thing that must motivate Micah not to finish his career as a mere competitor because it won’t achieve anything.
That must be his guide when he mounts the biggest stage of his boxing career. It will be a test for him to put his name in Ghana’s rich boxing history.
Tale of the tape
Micah is undefeated in 24 fights, with 19 knockouts. He has an impressive record but the bout with Casimero represents the toughest of his career.
The Filipino World Boxing Organisation (WBO) bantamweight champion has 29 victories in 33 bouts, with 4 defeats. He has won world titles at flyweight, super flyweight and bantamweight divisions respectively.
Casimero enters the ring on September 26 with a rich experience over Micah but the Ghanaian can go all out to upset him with the right preparations and plan.
Upset is not new in boxing and Micah has an advantage to imitate fellow compatriots, Azumah Nelson, Ike Quartey, Nana Yaw Konadu and Joseph Agbeko, among others, who needed emphatic victories against champions to announce themselves to the world.
Whilst Azumah, Quartey and Agbeko needed knockout victories to win their maiden world championship fights in 1984 and 1994, Konadu ensured a convincing unanimous decision win to become champion.
These are some instances that Micah must learn from. He has no option because Ghanaians will not forgive him. His relocation to US has done a lot of good to him than bad.
It has prepared him against tough opponents despite having some setbacks in 2018. A promotional tussle delayed him for over a year without a fight before he came back to beat Luis Suarez Cruz and Janiel Rivera in 2019.
Both Micah and Casimero have suffered ring rust going into the bout. Casimero last fought in November last year when he earned a knockout win over South Africa’s Zolani Tete. Micah on the other hand is yet to fight since beating Rivera in December via a unanimous decision.
Technical area
Micah will enter the ring with an experienced trainer in Andre Rozier. It was this trainer who led fellow compatriot ,Richard Commey, to a world title in February 2019.
Rozier knows how to make champions, having made Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Daniel Jacobs world titlists at various stage of their careers. Making Micah one won’t be difficult.
Ghanaians are yearning to have another world champion and it’s in the hands of Micah to deliver that. He has everything it takes to achieve that, having monitored his progress.
Micah has been training throughout the year in anticipation of a fight in April before the outbreak of COVID-19 led to the cancellation of all bouts.
To Micah, that pandemic was a blessing in disguise as it landed him the most important fight of his career. But for that, Micah would have fought a mere contest in anticipation of a title fight.
Casimero wouldn’t have been available to defend his title against Micah if his April 25 unification bout with Japanese World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion Naoya Inoue wasn’t cancelled due to COVID-19.
It is indeed going to be an interesting bout for both pugilists. Whilst Micah looks to snatch the title, Casimero needs a win to consider moving up in weight.
All fighters will be up for it but Micah must be more aggressive to make a statement. He must not allow this chance to pass especially with a solid team behind him.
Like the saying goes, “history remembers only champions”, Micah must ensure he is remembered as Ghana’s tenth world champion.
By: Bernard Neequaye