AFTER two botched title defenses, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) has officially stripped Johnriel Casimero of his bantamweight belt.The WBO released a resolution on Wednesday, May 4 with regard to Casimero’s failure to defend his WBO bantamweight belt against mandatory challenger Paul Butler last April 22 in Liverpool, England.Casimero was barred by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) from fighting after he broke the boxing body’s rule of using saunas before a fight to cut down in weight.“Now, to resolve the issue in question, we must enforce a straight-forward approach. Simply put, determined whether Casimero failed to comply with the WBO Regulations of World Championship Contests pursuant to the provisions contained in this Committee’s ‘Resolution.’ This Committee is of the position that the conditions outlined in the ‘Resolution’ are crystal clear. The relevant provision triggered upon the British Boxing Board of Control’s ruling prohibiting Casimero to participate in his second scheduled WBO championship bout. Wherefore, Casimero was unavailable and consequently, failed to comply as ordered by this Committee,” the WBO’s resolution stated.The WBO Committee was unanimous with 21 votes in favor of Casimero being stripped of his belt and elevating Butler as the regular champion. Butler won the interim WBO belt after beating Casimero’s replacement Jonas Sultan by unanimous decision.The WBO Committee, however, recommended that Casimero be the No. 1 ranked bantamweight contender, but that’s if he’s able to comply with the organization’s rating criteria.Casimero failed to defend his belt for eight months, way past the WBO’s rule of defending his belt for mandatory title defense within 90 days. Casimero was initially supposed to defend his belt against Butler on Dec. 11, 2021 in Dubai. However, Casimero was forced to pull out after suffering from gastritis.