By CARLO ANOLIN
Controversial World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero found himself in another dilemma after violating certain weight cut and medical guidelines prior to his mandatory title defense against English challenger Paul Butler on April 22.
Casimero could be stripped of his WBO title due to the use of sauna prior to the match which was apparently prohibited by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC).
“As you are aware, this is against BBBoC’s medical guidelines and therefore we can’t permit him to compete in the proposed contest on Friday,” said BBBoC general-secretary Robert Smith in a letter as cited by BoxingScene.com.
The development has also reached and was confirmed by the WBO through its Championship Committee chairman Luis Batista-Salas.
Not only Casimero is in hot water ˗ literally and figuratively ˗ but will also repeat the same procedure of addressing the problem as WBO issued another Show Cause order.
The WBO, citing the BBBoC, likewise affirmed that “he will not be permitted to compete accordingly” because of the violation.
The 32-year-old Casimero is given 48 hours to explain why the WBO title shall not be declared as officially “vacant.”
Last December, Casimero was unable to make weight after suffering from viral gastritis and the WBO was lenient enough to process and probe accordingly.
Casimero eventually retained the belt as the bout was rescheduled to April 29 but just last February the WBO titlist once again faced another hurdle after receiving complaints of sexual abuse.
Since capturing the WBO belt in November 2019 against Zolani Tete, the Ormoc City native boxer made two successful title defenses against Duke Micah and Guillermo Rigondeaux in September 2020 and August 2021, respectively.
Casimero’s current problem has added more commitment issues to the boxing sanctioning body and became more crucial than ever because he has yet to make a mandatory title defense.
The biggest chance of having a mandatory title defense against Butler and escaping the trouble once and for all just slipped away through Casimero’s fingers.
