Sean Gibbons has extended an olive branch to World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight king John Riel Casimero but the effort to reconcile remains up in the air, the MP Promotions chief said yesterday.
“I have reached out to him, talked via text messages but nothing’s come out of it,” Gibbons said amid the announcement by Probellum that a 23 April date has been set for Casimero to make a mandatory defense against Paul Butler of England.
“The fight’s going to be in Liverpool,” Gibbons said.
Casimero and Butler were originally scheduled to fight each other last December in Dubai but the Filipino champion failed to make it to the official weigh-in because of gastritis.
Gibbons was not present in Dubai when Casimero fell sick owing to their feud.
The WBO, instead of stripping Casimero of the 118-lb title, allowed him to remain as champion provided that he fights Butler.
But the WBO has ruled that if Casimero ends up unable to fight in Liverpool regardless of reason, the title will be declared vacant.
Gibbons, who heads MP Promotions, has a live contract with Casimero.
