Casimero arrives in Dubai for title defense vs Butler

December 9 ------ JOHNRIEL Casimero is now in Dubai for his defense of the WBO bantamweight crown against Paul Butler this weekend at the Coca-Cola Arena. After a grueling trip from the US all the way to the United Arab Emirates' open city, the reigning champion immediately buckled down to work and headed straight to the gym in his hotel to work out a sweat.

The 31-year-old Casimero obviously already lost a lot of weight, but is still a bit over the 118-pound limit with two days to go before the official weigh-in. Following his workout, the native of Merida, Leyte consumed a pair of boiled eggs and apple as shown on his vlog while continuing to watch his weight. Casimero (31-4, 21 KOs) was accompanied by brother Jayson and cutman Stephen Lunas. One of his sisters also arrived in Dubai to join ‘Quadro Alas’ as he makes his third defense of the title he won over Zolani Tete in November of 2019 via a third round TKO.

It is not yet known whether trainer Manny Melchor will follow and man Casimero’s corner on fight night. Melchor, who once reigned as IBF minimumweight champion in 1992, currently serves as coach at the City Boxing gym in San Diego, where Casimero held his training camp for the Butler fight.

Butler (33-2, 15 KOs) from Ellesmere Port, England, briefly reigned as IBF bantamweight champion after scoring a split decision against fellow Englishman Stuart Hall in 2014. But he lost by an eighth-round stoppage to Tete a year later in his bid for the IBF super-flyweight belt.

Source: spin.ph