Guillermo Rigondeaux recognized John Riel Casimero’s legitimate power.

The skillful southpaw has beaten punchers with less boxing ability than him in the past, however, and he is confident he’ll withstand Casimero’s power, too. Rigondeaux (20-1, 13 KOs, 1 NC) even suggested he’ll be the one to win by knockout August 14, not the hard-hitting Casimero (30-4, 21 KOs).

“I don’t worry about that,” Rigondeaux replied to Showtime’s Brian Custer when he was asked about Casimero’s power during a virtual press conference recently. “I don’t worry about anything. I’ve fought in three different divisions – 118, 122 and 130. And I’ve been able to go after any challenge that I have faced. So, Casimero’s power is of no concern to me whatsoever.”

The 40-year-old Rigondeaux’s reliance on his legs has waned with age, but the WBA world bantamweight champion likely won’t stand and trade with Casimero during their “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Casimero challenged the two-time Olympic gold medalist to “fight” him because the WBO bantamweight champ claimed Rigondeaux “runs” and has put fans to sleep with his tactical style.

Rigondeaux refused to engage in trash talk with his confident Filipino opponent.

“I’m not a big trash-talker, Brian,” Rigondeaux said. “It’s not about like, ‘Oh, what’s he gonna do? Or what I’m gonna do,’ or whatever people wanna say beforehand. You know what? I’ll see you on the 14th at Dignity Health Center. I’ll see you in the ring and then you’ll see the real Rigondeaux, just like you want. But in the meantime, I’m just focusing again on what I’m doing, on my job and that’s the long and the short of it. Anything else is pure talk.”

Miami’s Rigondeaux replaced Nonito Donaire as Casimero’s opponent once Donaire withdrew from what was supposed to be a bantamweight championship unification fight. Rigondeaux was Casimero’s original opponent, but he stepped aside and allowed Casimero-Donaire because Rigondeaux believed he would face the winner for two more 118-pound championships.

Donaire (41-6, 27 KOs), the WBC bantamweight champion, pulled out of the bout primarily because he contended Casimero was not actively enrolled in the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association’s testing program for performance-enhancing drugs.

Donaire also considered the back and forth on social media between Sean Gibbons, Casimero’s promotional representative, and Donaire’s wife/manager, Rachel, to be disrespectful. The 38-year-old Donaire cited what he considered inappropriate comments made by Gibbons as another reason for withdrawing from the Casimero match.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.