John Riel Casimero stripped of his WBO world title

The World Boxing Organization has officially stripped John Riel Casimero of his WBO world bantamweight title.

Casimero, 31-4 with 21 knockouts as a prizefighter, won the title when he defeated Zolani Tete via stoppage in 2019. He made two successful voluntary defenses with the last one against Guillermo Rigondeaux in August but has not made a mandatory defense in almost three years.

He was supposed to face his mandatory challenger Paul Butler this past December in Dubai but had to withdraw from the fight on the day of the weigh-in because of gastritis.

The fight was then rescheduled to April 22, but he was taken out of the card after he violated a British Boxing Board of Control policy that prohibits fighters from using a sauna to make weight for a fight.

Jonas Sultan stepped in for Casimero to fight Butler for the WBO interim bantamweight title but lost the fight via unanimous decision.

“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,” the WBO wrote in its official resolution.

The development paved the way for Butler to become a full-blown champion as he had his interim title elevated by the WBO. However, contrary to a previous resolution that the governing body released last December, Casimero has been placed as the no. 1 contender for the title.

“The WBO World Championship Committee recommends to the WBO Ratings Committee that John Riel Casimero be rated at the number one (1) position in the WBO Bantamweight Ratings and subject to complying with the applicable rating criteria.”

—JMB, GMA News