It’s destiny for Sultan

MANILA, Philippines — Zamboanga del Norte’s Jonas Sultan was set to fight in the undercard of WBO bantamweight champion JohnRiel Casimero’s title defense against No. 1 contender Paul Butler in Liverpool tonight (tomorrow morning, Manila time) but in a stroke of fate, will now face the Englishman for the interim crown. Casimero was disallowed from fighting for violating a British Boxing Board of Control rule against sauna use to reduce weight and the WBO is now assessing whether or not to strip him of the championship. If the throne is declared vacant, Sultan and Butler will dispute the actual, not interim, title.

“We knew Casimero had difficulty making weight,” said MP Promotions head Sean Gibbons who’s in Liverpool. “So we got Jonas a slot in the undercard, thinking if Casimero isn’t able to fight, maybe he could be the replacement since he’s the No. 4 contender. This was meant to be for Jonas, his destiny. He’s prepared for Butler. (Strength and conditioning coach) Memo (Heredia) got him ready training for months in Las Vegas and Jonas arrived in the UK Tuesday last week, even before Casimero.”

GAB chairman Baham Mitra left Manila for Liverpool last Wednesday and will be at ringside for the fight. “We strongly condemn and discourage the commission of any illegal acts or violation of boxing rules,” he said. “We will summon Casimero and his team to shed light on the issue.”

Sultan, 30, said he’s dedicating the fight to his friend Ali Tazeem who died in a car accident last Sunday. Since landing in the UK, Sultan set up training camp in Birmingham with Tazeem’s father Toheed, a boxing coach known as Dr. Tee. Tazeem, 18, was an amateur standout who recently signed a contract to turn pro. He was a passenger in the car that collided with a bus at an intersection in Wolverhampton.

Yorkshire’s Michael Alexander will be the referee with Spain’s Manuel Palomo and Fernando Laguna and the UK’s Howard Foster the judges.  The supervisor will be WBO Europe vice chairman John Handelaar of the UK. Gibbons said as far as he’s concerned, there will be only one judge in the fight and that’s Sultan. Working Sultan’s corner will be Gibbons, son Brendan and Irish cutman Andy O’Neill.