Butler brushes off Casimero

MANILA, Philippines — WBO bantamweight champion Paul Butler isn’t inclined to stake his crown against former titlist Johnriel Casimero even as “Quadro Alas” has appealed to WBO president Paco Valcarcel for a chance as the No. 1 contender in a mandatory challenge. Casimero recently called out Butler to fight in a social media post and said after he dethrones the Englishman, his next target is WBC/WBA/IBF unified titlist Naoya Inoue.

But Butler has dismissed Casimero as a future opponent. Twice, they were scheduled to fight but Casimero backed out with viral gastritis in the first cancellation then was disqualified for violating a British Boxing Board of Control rule in the second. Butler said he’s now focused on facing Inoue, probably in October, not Casimero.

“Will they make me fight Casimero next but it’s twice now,” said Butler, quoted by Elliot Worsell in the British weekly Boxing News magazine. “The first time could be a mistake but when it happens again, you have to think he’s taking the mick a bit. Towards the end of the last training camp, I was hearing rumors and by fight week, I was just sick of hearing about him, to be honest. I just couldn’t wait to finish hearing his name. After the first time, I sort of felt sorry for him but then he did what he did in Liverpool and I just think, good riddance to you. He’s no good for the sport. He’s just horrible. He’s got no respect for the sport or his belt. His whole team are cowboys. We knew how unprofessional he was and knew anything could go wrong at any time.”

After Casimero was ruled out of the second scheduled fight, Butler took on another Filipino Jonas Sultan instead and won the interim WBO title on points last April. Butler was later elevated from interim to regular champion. “If I fight Inoue next, I’m stepping in with an absolute legend,” said Butler. “He’s someone who is going to go on and win many, many more world titles at numerous weights. He’s magnificent. He’s a very smart fighter and someone I enjoy watching as a fan. He’s just so destructive.”

WBO Asia Pacific chairman Leon Panoncillo confirmed in last month’s WBO ratings, Casimero was the No. 1 bantamweight. But in the Wikipedia list of boxing rankings as of last May 23, the WBO No. 1 slot was vacant with Casimero no longer in the top 10. It remains to be seen if Casimero will be retained as WBO top contender in this month’s ratings or if Wikipedia had advance information in eliminating the Ormoc fighter.