GAB willing to aid Casimero

MANILA, Philippines — GAB chairman Baham Mitra said yesterday the agency is open to assist WBO bantamweight champion John Riel Casimero who will be stripped of the crown unless he produces a medical certificate establishing illness as the cause in missing Friday’s weigh-in for his title defense against Paul Butler in Dubai. Mitra was supposed to fly to Dubai to witness the Casimero-Butler fight, the Sunny Edwards-Jayson Mama IBF flyweight championship bout and the Donnie Nietes-Norbelto Jimenez WBO superflyweight title eliminator on the same card but cancelled due to strict travel conditions.

“Wala kaming balita kay Casimero,” said Mitra. “We have no communication. But we’re open to assist him in any way. We were told he was seven pounds over the limit four days before the weigh-in. Mama and Nietes went to his Dubai hotel and waited outside his room until Casimero’s brother Jayson came out to say he was resting and couldn’t see anyone. We’re hoping he’s OK.” Casimero claimed he was down with viral gastritis but it was reported that he went to the American Hospital in Dubai severely dehydrated because of trying to make weight. The WBO gave Casimero 10 days from last Friday to prove his sickness. If the WBO isn’t convinced, Casimero will be defrocked.

Mitra recently returned from attending the WBC Convention in Mexico City where GAB was cited as Commission of the Year for introducing a portable CT-Scan to immediately detect head injuries.  GAB was similarly recognized in 2017 for providing free annual medical checkups. Mitra made a presentation to WBC medical commission head Dr. Paul Wallace on the portable CT-Scan then was asked to do the same at a plenary session.

“My intention was to present the idea without disclosing the manufacturer or source of the equipment,” said Mitra. “Apparently, not too many know about it and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman welcomed the presentation as a safety measure for boxers. It’s not meant to replace the regular CT-Scan. The anti-hematoma machine is called the Infrascanner. GAB procured four machines through public bidding from our own budget and we got additional (funding) from Congress. There are two machines in Luzon and one each in Cebu and Davao. It was used extensively in Afghanistan at the war front among military doctors. We found out about it from boxing manager Jun Gandeza whose fighter was scanned by a portable in the US.”