MANILA, Philippines – John Riel Casimero is still the World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight champion.
This after the WBO has considered as valid Casimero’s reason for pulling out of his mandatory title defense against Paul Butler originally scheduled last December 11 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
In a resolution Thursday, the sanctioning organization said it has accepted documentary evidence proving Casimero suffered from viral gastritis, which was the reason for the Filipino failing to defend his title against Butler.
"There is no controversy as to the cause of Casimero's physical impediment to engaging in the WBO Bantamweight Mandatory Championship Bout against Paul Butler per the medical documents furnished to the WBO. In essence, all the supportive evidence concluded that Casimero's diagnosis was Viral Gastritis," it said in the resolution.
"Furthermore, these findings were rendered by duly licensed physicians and certified by the respective medical institutions. Therefore, we deem it unnecessary to challenge these findings through independent medical reviews," the WBO added.
The 32-year-old Casimero was supposed to make the third defense of the title he won after stopping Zolani Tete two years ago. For failing to show up against Butler, the WBO gave the champion 10 days to prove he suffered from the illness. Failure to do so would have resulted in Casimero getting stripped of the 118-pound belt.
Meanwhile, fight promoter Probellum — the firm that won the promotional rights to the Casimero-Butler bout — has been given 15 days to decide if they want to reschedule the fight.