WBO strip Casimero; Butler made regular champion
Yesterday the WBO announced that they had made a decision regarding the situation of their Bantamweight title.
The WBO have decided to strip Filipino fighter John Riel Casimero (31-4, 21) who was recently forced out of a mandatory title defense against Paul Butler (34-2, 15) on medical grounds, and in turn promoted Butler from "interim" champion to full champion.
The medical grounds in question was Casimero using a sauna for the bout, in breach of rules set by the BBBofC, rules that are somewhat unique to the UK and aren't made widely available. In fact they need real effort to find out about, with the WBO accepting Casimero hadn't been informed of the rule before breaching it. Despite that, the Filipino was stripped as he failed to defend the title against the mandatory challenger, after having previously pulled out of the bout on short notice, in 2021. Due to pulling out of two scheduled clashes with Butler Casimero had failed to make a single mandatory defense since winning the title in 2019, when he stopped Zolani Tete.
Notably however the WBO haven't come down too hard on Casimero. Despite stripping him, as they should have done, they have made him the #1 ranked challenger to face Butler, potentially making him the future mandatory challenger to the new champion. In reality however it seems best for Casimero to abandon the division and begin to campaign at 122lbs, rather than continue to boil himself down the Bantamweight.
The full, 8 page, document on the WBO's decision and how they've reached it can be read here.
The WBO have decided to strip Filipino fighter John Riel Casimero (31-4, 21) who was recently forced out of a mandatory title defense against Paul Butler (34-2, 15) on medical grounds, and in turn promoted Butler from "interim" champion to full champion.
The medical grounds in question was Casimero using a sauna for the bout, in breach of rules set by the BBBofC, rules that are somewhat unique to the UK and aren't made widely available. In fact they need real effort to find out about, with the WBO accepting Casimero hadn't been informed of the rule before breaching it. Despite that, the Filipino was stripped as he failed to defend the title against the mandatory challenger, after having previously pulled out of the bout on short notice, in 2021. Due to pulling out of two scheduled clashes with Butler Casimero had failed to make a single mandatory defense since winning the title in 2019, when he stopped Zolani Tete.
Notably however the WBO haven't come down too hard on Casimero. Despite stripping him, as they should have done, they have made him the #1 ranked challenger to face Butler, potentially making him the future mandatory challenger to the new champion. In reality however it seems best for Casimero to abandon the division and begin to campaign at 122lbs, rather than continue to boil himself down the Bantamweight.
The full, 8 page, document on the WBO's decision and how they've reached it can be read here.