TAKING into account the stern warning the head honchos of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) issued to John Riel Casimero last December, the recent decision of the organization to strip the Filipino of his world bantamweight (118 lbs.) title is a foregone conclusion.

It will be recalled that Casimero barely avoided being stripped of the WBO crown last year when he failed to show up in the weigh-in of his title defense against Englishman Paul Butler in Dubai.

Casimero claimed he fell ill before the weigh-in and pointed to viral gastritis. Amid reports that he was struggling to meet the weight, Casimero somehow convinced the WBO to accept his medical explanation.

The WBO allowed Casimero to keep the title on the following conditions: Casimero and Butler will have to come up with a new fight date and should the Filipino again fail to show up, for whatever reason, he will be automatically stripped of the world title.

Casimero and Butler did come up with a new fight date, April 22, in Liverpool, but the champ again failed to show up.

A few days before the fight, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC), the governing body of pro boxing in England, refused to sanction the fight after Casimero allegedly violated its medical guidelines.

The BBBofC claimed Casimero violated its rule prohibiting the use of saunas days before the fight to drastically cut weight. The BBBofC claimed it has solid proof and it turned out to be the video clip posted by Casimero in his YouTube channel which showed him shadow boxing in a sauna. With the BBBofC refusing to sanction the fight, the WBO had no choice but to pull the plug.

The WBO tapped Butler and Filipino Jonas Sultan to contend for the interim bantamweight title as it pondered on Casimero's fate.

Butler outboxed Sultan to claim the temporary crown.

As aforementioned, Casimero being finally stripped of his title was really a formality. In its December resolution, the WBO already warned Casimero that should he again fail to show up in his fight with Butler, for whatever reason, he will be stripped of the crown. Well, Casimero again failed to show up by virtue of the BBBofC's refusal to sanction the fight.

The WBO was left with no other option but to make good on the warning it had issued.

Casimero's camp challenged the BBBofC's ruling, claiming there is no specific provision in its guidelines relating to the use of sauna, that Butler himself was found to have violated the said medical guidelines in 2016 but was permitted to fight after paying a fine, but to no avail. In a unanimous verdict, the WBO Executive Committee voted to strip Casimero of the title for "conduct unbecoming."

So, this is how John Riel's reign ends. He had secured fight dates with WBA-IBF champ Naoya Inoue and WBC counterpart Nonito Donaire Jr. These big fights did not push through and Casimero is partly to blame.

Both Inoue and Donaire Jr. were turned off by Casimero's acerbic words and did not bother to push through with their fights against John Riel.

Casimero won the WBO bantamweight title in November 2019 but in almost three years on the throne he never defended the title against the No.1 or mandatory contender. The Butler fight was supposed to be his first mandatory defense.

Butler is now the new regular WBO bantamweight champ, having been promoted to "full champion" status by the WBO following its decision to strip Casimero. It is now Butler, not Casimero, who is in position to meet the winner of Inoue-Donaire for the undisputed bantamweight crown.

Casimero's camp is expected to appeal the decision of the WBO.

In a series of posts on Twitter, Casimero's new manager Egis Klimas claimed that Casimero being stripped of a world title because of sauna is just plain crazy.

Klimas further hinted there may be some "dirty hands" behind the predicament Casimero found himself in.

Casimero will have a lot of soul-searching to do. It is not every day that a boxer gets to win a world title and Casimero just lost his world crown without getting a chance to defend it. While Klimas is trying to imply that there is something fishy with Casimero's "dethronement," it cannot be denied that the boxer contributed to his own downfall.

Casimero remains ranked by the WBO, at No. 1 for that matter, but it is not a guarantee that he will get an automatic shot at Butler because the WBO stressed that the Filipino will have to live up to a certain rating "criteria" before he is allowed to contend for the title again.