WBO to Hear Casimero Case & Moves In Jonas Sultan to Battle Paul Butler
It seems as if John Riel Casimero vs Paul Butler was destined to never happen. The two fighters were originally set to face-off last December. However, the fight would be postponed due to Casimero’s falling ill. Eventually, the fight was rescheduled for April 22. But yet again, the fight is off!
The WBO approved of their champion, Casimero (31-4, 21KOs), being removed from his fight with Butler after violating the British Boxing Board of Control’s medical guidelines. Apparently, Casimero used a sauna in an attempt to shed the remaining weight to allow himself to make the bantamweight limit. The infraction is prohibited so close to the fight date.
BUTLER-SULTAN GETS INTERIM TITLE FROM WBO!
Since this is Casimero’s second blunder with the WBO, the Paul Butler (33-2, 15KOs) vs Jonas Sultan (18-5, 11KOs) bout will be contested for the interim title. Sultan had been brought in as an emergency opponent in case of unforeseen circumstances that would prevent either fighter from fighting. Furthermore, the WBO has given Casimero a 48-hour show-cause order to prove why he shouldn’t be stripped of his title. If the WBO doesn’t find his explanation good enough, the Butler-Sultan fight will be elevated from an interim title bout to a bout for the vacant WBO bantamweight title.
It’ll be interesting to see what explanation Casimero’s team provides in hopes of keeping the WBO title in his possession. If his explanation does hold up, he’ll face the winner of the Butler vs Sultan fight later this year.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
By: Jerrell Fletcher
