THE Johnriel Casimero drama just had another major twist.
The reigning WBO bantamweight champion was found to have violated the medical guidelines of the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) for going to a sauna to 'cut weight' with just days leading to his April 22 fight against Paul Butler in Liverpool.
RingTV was among the first to break the news.
Under the BBBoC guidelines, the use of saunas to lose weight before a fight is strictly prohibited, thus Casimero won’t be allowed by the body to push through with his fight against Butler, the mandatory challenger from England.
"The British Boxing Board of Control has been made aware (with supporting evidence) that Mr. Casimero has made use of a sauna in close proximity to his World Boxing Organization championship contest on 22nd April 2022 in Liverpool," said BBBoC general secretary Robert Smith in a statement.

Casimero-Butler fight is off
"As you are aware, this is against BBBoC's medical guidelines, and therefore we can't permit him to compete in the proposed contest on Friday."
At the same time, the British body issued the Casimero camp a show cause order to explain within the next 48 hours why he shouldn't be stripped of the title.
The WBO had already been notified of the latest development in the Casimero-Butler title fight.
Casimero also has a standing warning from the WBO about being stripped of his title should he be 'unavailable to participate regardless of the circumstances' in his rescheduled fight against Butler.
The notice was made following Casimero's failure to show up during the official weigh-in of his first meeting with Butler in Dubai last December.
The WBO ordered the Casimero camp back then for a show cause notice on why he shouldn't be stripped of his title after the boxing champion claimed he was hospitalized on the eve of the weigh-in due to viral gastritis.
Casimero's team was able to show proof of his medical records during his stay in the hospital, paving the way for the WBO to continue recognizing him as its champion at the 118-pound division.
But the boxing body also ordered promoter Probellum to rescheduled the Butler fight and made the condition that he'll be stripped of his title should he be unavailable to face his mandatory challenger again.
he WBO explicitly ruled that if Casimero was “unavailable to participate regardless the circumstances” in the rescheduled match, he’d be stripped. This looks a lot like he’s unavailable to participate.
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