JOHNRIEL Casimero’s big loss is Paul Butler’s biggest gain.
Butler, who succeeded Casimero as WBO bantamweight title holder, gets the biggest break of his career as he’s set for a lucrative unification bout against undefeated Japanese champion Naoya Inoue set on December 13 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
Casimero was stripped of his 118-pound title early this year for violating medical guidelines by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC), apparently in his bid to lose weight on the week of his supposed April 22 defense against Butler in Liverpool England.
It was the second straight time Casimero failed to climb the ring against Butler.
See: With eyes on Inoue, Casimero asks WBO to give him a shot at Butler
In Dec. 2021, the brash-talking Filipino didn’t show up for the scheduled weigh-in for his first fight against Butler after being rushed to the hospital on the eve of the event due to gastritis, a condition many believed was caused by Casimero’s forced weight reduction leading to the fight.
After Casimero’s second fight with Butler was called off, fellow Filipino Jonas Sultan came in as a late replacement.
Butler (34-2, 15 KOs) went on and scored a unanimous decision against Sultan and was declared the interim champion by the WBO. The boxing body later on declared him as the new title holder when Casimero was finally stripped of his crown.
“I’ve been boxing for over 20 years and all the successes and setbacks have led me here, to the biggest fight of my career, with the biggest prize in the sport on offer,” said the 33-year-old Butler upon the announcement of the fight.
Inoue of course, is the biggest name in the bantamweight division right now.
"The Monster’ holds the WBC, WBA, and IBF crowns and is undefeated in all of his 23 fights, 20 of which he won by knockouts.
He destroyed Filipino Nonito Dinaire Jr. in just two rounds of their rematch last June to wrest the WBC championship as he moved closer in unifying all four title belts in his bid to become the first undisputed bantamweight champion in history.
Inoue and Casimero were set to face in an explosive title showdown in April 2020 that was unfortunately, forcibly put on the backburner by the global pandemic.
Both parties never came close again to negotiating for the fight to push through.
It’s widely believed this will be the last time the 29-year-old Japanese will fight as a bantamweight as talks are ripe he’s set to move up in weight by next year at junior featherweight (super bantamweight).
This developed as Casimero already decided to take his act at 122 lbs. for his long-awaited ring return on Dec. 3 against former world title challenger Ryo Akaho in Incheon, South Korea.
Casimero (31-4, 21 KOs) last fought August 14, 2021 in Carson, California by beating Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux via split decision to retain his WBO crown.
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