Zolani Tete vs John Riel Casimero purse bid won by Queensberry Promotions

A purse bid for a fight between WBO bantamweight titleholder and interim WBO bantamweight titleholder John Riel Casimero was won by Frank Warren, who at $300,000 outbid the only other bidder, TGB Promotions, who offered $258,000 for the fight.

Warren reportedly hopes to put the fight in England, and the tentative date is Nov. 23.

A former 115-pound titleholder, Tete (28-3, 21 KO) has held the WBO 118-pound belt since 2017. He first won the interim title himself, beating Arthur Villanueva, and then seven months later he defeated Siboniso Gonya in a fight with the full title at stake.

He’s since made defenses against Omar Narvaez and Mikhail Aloyan, the latter a first round matchup in the World Boxing Super Series tournament. Tete, 31, was set to face Nonito Donaire in the semifinals, but pulled out late due to injury and hasn’t fought since October of last year.

Tete being on the shelf for an extended period of time means that, in something of a boxing rarity, an interim title actually made sense. The 30-year-old Casimero, who has held world titles at 108 and 112, beat Ricardo Espinoza via dramatic 12th round TKO on Apr. 20 in California, and defended at home in the Philippines on Aug. 24, knocking out Cesar Ramirez in the 10th round.

The purse bid shakes out to $225,000 for Tete and $75,000 for Casimero.

Tete-Casimero is a legitimately good fight, one that actually makes sense as a mandatory title fight, and will be a welcome addition to the boxing schedule for the fall.