John Riel Casimero preparing for a training session.–QUADRO ALAS YOUTUBE SCREENGRAB
MANILA, Philippines—John Riel Casimero is ramping up his preparation for his WBO World bantamweight title defense against Paul Butler in December.
With less than a month to go before their tussle, Casimero took the bags at City Boxing Gym in San Diego, California.
The 32-year-old also took the track in an early morning run that he and his team streamed live on his YouTube channel.
Casimero (31-4) is set to make his third defense of the WBO strap on December 11 at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The Leyte native beat Tete in November 2019 to take 118-pound championship via a third round technical knockout and has since defended the title against Duke Micah, another third round stoppage, and a split decision win over Guillermo Rigondeaux.
Butler (33-2), meanwhile, is riding a seven-fight winning streak with his last match a split decision win over Willibaldo Garcia for the vacant WBO international bantamweight belt.
The 33-year-old from Cheshire, United Kingdom once held the IBF World bantamweight title in 2014 after scoring a split decision win over Stuart Hall.
That title win was Butler’s only championship as he has lost in his bid to wrest the IBF super flyweight championship from Tete in July 2015 and missed weight on his loss to Emmanuel Rodriguez for the vacant IBF bantamweight belt in May 2018.