John Riel Casimero and his team aren’t doing too great at negotiating this year. At the request of mandatory challenger Paul Butler, the WBO has scheduled an October 7th purse bid for “Quadro Alas’” next defense.
The minimum bid is $100,000.
Casimero (31-4, 21 KO) saw a big-money fight with countryman Nonito Donaire fall through this summer over drug testing and a particularly nasty social media spat between Casimero’s team and Donaire’s wife/manager Rachel. He instead faced Guillermo Rigondeaux, whom he beat by split decision in an all-time execrable slog.
Butler (33-2, 15 KO) will be attempting to secure a second title reign. He briefly held the IBF title in 2014 before losing it to Zolani Tete in his first defense, then missed weight ahead of a vacant title fight with Emmanuel Rodriguez that the Cheshire native lost badly. He claimed mandatory status in June with a split decision over Willibaldo Garcia, who survived an early knockdown to force the fight down to the wire.
