Butler says he would have beaten Casimero if fight pushed through
Paul Butler connects a right straight to Jonas Sultan during their WBO interim world bantamweight title bout in Liverpool, England last April 22. | Photo from Probellum
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Newly crowned World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight world champion Paul “Baby Faced Assassin” Butler believed the result would have been the same if his bout with John Riel Casimero pushed through.
Butler and Casimero were supposed to squared off last April 22, 2022 at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England, but the latter botched his world title defense due to violations of British Boxing Board of Control medical policy for using sauna within the fight week.
Instead, Butler fought last minute replacement, Jonas Sultan, and won via a lopsided unanimous decision victory to wrest the WBO interim world bantamweight title.
Incidentally, Sultan fought and defeated Casimero in 2017 for a world title eliminator in Cebu.
“Had Casimero not been pulled out of the fight, the result would have been the same as I was in the shape of my life for the biggest contest of my career, and he could see that on the night,” said Butler in a statement provided by Probellum.
On Tuesday, May 3, 2022 (Wednesday, May 4, 2022, Manila Time) Butler was officially elevated to full champion status by the WBO world championship committee after it relinquished Casimero as its current champion.
READ: Casimero stripped of WBO world title
The decision of the WBO’s Executive Committee came from the 21-0 vote favoring Butler to get elevated as the full champion.
Eyes on Donaire, Inoue
Now that he is the new WBO world bantamweight champion, he sets his eyes on landing a bout against WBC world bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire or WBA and IBF bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue, who are set for a rematch on June 7, 2022 in Japan.
“Now, with the WBO belt around my waist, I’m ready to secure some huge fights in one of the best divisions in the boxing, and I will be watching the outcome of Donaire versus Inoue with interest.”
However, Casimero remains a huge threat to his title.
The WBO will install Casimero as the No. 1 contender in the division.
The 33-year old Butler is the former IBF bantamweight champion. He sports a record of 34 wins, 15 by knockouts, and two losses.
/bmjo
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
