Photo: John Riel Casimero | Photo from AFP via Inquirer
CEBU CITY, Philippines—The World Boxing Organization (WBO) championship committee officially stripped John Riel “Quadro Alas” Casimero of the WBO world bantamweight title on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 (May 4, Manila Time) after his world-title defense fiasco in Liverpool, England last month.
In an eight-page statement, the WBO world championship committee officially relinquished Casimero’s title and elevated interim world champion Paul “Baby Faced Assassin” Butler of the United Kingdom to full champion status.
“The Committee unanimously recommended to the WBO Executive Committee to strip John Riel Casimero’s WBO World Bantamweight Championship Title for failure to comply with the conditions set forth in its “Resolution,” stated on the WBO Championship Committee resolution,” part of the statement read.
“The WBO Executive Committee unanimously voted in favor of adopting the WBO Championship Committee’s recommendation and therefore declares the WBO Bantamweight Championship Title ‘vacant’,” it added.
Casimero failed to defend the WBO world bantamweight title twice. The first time he failed to defend it was in December 2021 when he pulled out of his fight versus Butler on the eve of the official weigh-in due to viral gastritis in Dubai, UAE.
The 33-year-old Leyte native failed to defend the title again last month after the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) caught him violating its medical policy for allegedly using the sauna to shed off excess weight within the fight week.
He was prohibited to participate in his fight versus Butler, forcing the WBO to issue him a “show cause order,” to explain why he shouldn’t be stripped of his title.
After a thorough investigation, the WBO championship committee released the resolution, removing Casimero from his championship status, elevating Butler as the regular champion from being the interim champion, which was already foreseen after beating Jonas Sultan via unanimous decision.
Sultan replaced Casimero to fight Butler last April 22 at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.
Nonetheless, Casimero remains a significant figure in the bantamweight division as the WBO World Championship Committee recommended to put him as the No. 1 contender.
Casimero and his camp can file an appeal within 14 days although the decision was already final.
Casimero reigned as the WBO world bantamweight champion from 2019 to 2021. The three-division world champion successfully defended the title twice. After winning the title against Zolani Tete in 2019, he defended it against Duke Micah and Guillermo Rigondeaux.
/bmjo
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