There’s a fair bit of news from the WBO to get through, so we’ll start a bit that slipped under the radar on Wednesday: bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero’s mandatory title defense against Paul Butler has been rescheduled for April 23rd in Liverpool.
The approval report doesn’t end there, however; it also notes that Casimero (31-4, 21 KO) has not faced a mandatory challenger since stopping Zolani Tete for the belt in November 2019. He was slated to face Butler (33-2, 15 KO) in December, but withdrew before weigh-ins due to gastritis.
Butler, who declined a last-minute interim title clash with Joseph Agbeko, basically accused Casimero of faking the illness to cover up a poor weight cut. The WBO also pressed Casimero for proof of his treatment, and they’re not taking any chances this time around; “in the event that Casimero does not attend the official weigh-in for any reason whatsoever, refuses to fight, is injured or suffers an injury, or is unavailable to participate regardless the circumstances,” the title will be declared vacant.
We’ll let you know what kind of card comes together around it.