Naoya Inoue vs. Paul Butler | Undisputed - 13 December 2022

[lefthook82]

Butler will 100% price himself out

[Ruthless-RKO]

Butler will 100% price himself out

You reckon?

[olij999]

The only way Butler wins this is if he puts all of the zillion inter-continental belts he has won in a massive net above the ring and then gets them released on Inoue at just the right moment. The avalanche of plastic, pleather and cheap metal would be too much even for the Monster.

And I'd be amazed if Butler gets more than £100K. Even allowing for Japanese promoters paying decent purses to get foreign fighters to come over, that would be a fair bit, and the yen isn't doing well against the pound at present.

[ThereByTheGrace]

However much Nayoa Inoue is being celebrated on this forum, it's not enough !

Nothing lasts forever and Inoue brings everything a boxing fan could want to the table everytime.

Enjoy every minute of his career while it lasts

Great to see fighters in their prime. He's unique just hope he doesn't jump up too many weights

[wrighty]

I admire the stones on Butler, Inoue is better in every department though and has F U power

[margaret thatcher]

The only way Butler wins this is if he puts all of the zillion inter-continental belts he has won in a massive net above the ring and then gets them released on Inoue at just the right moment. The avalanche of plastic, pleather and cheap metal would be too much even for the Monster.

[littlepug]

However much Nayoa Inoue is being celebrated on this forum, it's not enough !

Nothing lasts forever and Inoue brings everything a boxing fan could want to the table everytime.

Enjoy every minute of his career while it lasts

Great to see fighters in their prime. He's unique just hope he doesn't jump up too many weights

Agree, he’s a phenomenal fighter that needs to stay in his own weight class, too many jumping up these days that don’t need to, even fans seem to think it’s some sign of greatness to jump about the weights.

[brilo33]

inoue is a ferocious fighter no one beats him at that weight, loved to have seen him fight ryan burnett

[Ruthless-RKO]

[gregregegg]

Buttler should just take a knee befor the first punch is thrown and stay down. This may be a bigger mismatch undisputed than craw vs indongo

[Ruthless-RKO]

Buttler should just take a knee befor the first punch is thrown and stay down. This may be a bigger mismatch undisputed than craw vs indongo

At least before that bout, there was a few who thought Indongo would give Crawford problems.

[gregregegg]

Buttler should just take a knee befor the first punch is thrown and stay down. This may be a bigger mismatch undisputed than craw vs indongo

At least before that bout, there was a few who thought Indongo would give Crawford problems.

I bet on indongo by KO….

[tigermoth87]

Inoue is gonna absolutely roger him senseless.

[Ruthless-RKO]

This poll is similar to the Beterbiev-Yarde poll.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Inoue trying to sell the fight?

“I haven’t watched his bouts in their entirety, but I can see he is a talented and aggressive boxer,” Inoue said to ESPN about Butler. “If I can unify the four bantamweight titles this year, I would like to move up to the super bantamweight division.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Naoya Inoue-Paul Butler Undisputed Bantamweight Championship Set, December 13 In Japan

Naoya Inoue will delay his pursuit of a fourth divisional crown long enough to chase history.

Boxing Scene has confirmed that a deal has been in place for an undisputed bantamweight championship clash between Japan’s Inoue and England’s Paul Butler. The lineal/WBA/WBC/IBF/WBO title fight will take place December 13 at a location to be determined in Japan. ESPN+ will carry the event in the early Tuesday morning U.S. hours, while airing live on Amazon Prime Video in Japan.

ESPN.com boxing insider Mike Coppinger was the first to report the news.

Inoue (23-0, 20KOs)—a three-division champ and reigning bantamweight king—added a third belt to his collection following a second-round knockout of Nonito Donaire in their June 7 rematch in Saitama, Japan. Inoue defended his WBA/IBF titles while claiming Donaire’s WBC crown, becoming Japan’s first-ever three-belt titleholder in boxing history. He now aims to become the nation’s first-ever undisputed champion in the three- or four-belt era and Japan’s first undisputed champion in the splintered title era since 1975.

Making such history is the only reason he delayed a move to the 122-pound junior featherweight division.

“If the negotiations go smoothly, of course I would like to fight for the fourth belt and become the undisputed bantamweight champion,” Inoue previously told BS.com, though also already exploring a contingency plan. “I would love to stay in the division. If [a fight with Butler] can’t be done, then I am capable of moving up [to junior featherweight].”

Butler (34-2, 15KOs) entered the mix after claiming the interim WBO title following a 12-round, unanimous decision over Jonas Sultan on April 22 in Liverpool, England. The fight was made after the 33-year-old from Ellesmere Point, England was twice denied the opportunity to face John Riel Casimero, a former three-division titlist who held the WBO bantamweight belt since November 2019. Two failed attempts to honor his mandatory with Butler saw the Filipino stripped of the belt and Butler upgraded to full champ from interim status earlier this spring.

Butler was eager to land a major fight with Inoue, highly regarded among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Boxing Scene learned that initial talks were rocky enough to where Inoue considered leaving the division altogether to begin his run at 122. Such a move would have left the WBA/WBC/IBF belts up for grabs, with Inoue’s intention to have younger brother Takuma—currently a 122-pound contender who is considering a move back down in weight—fight for one of available belts.

Progress was made before the two sides were able to come to terms, which BS.com learned was secured earlier this month.

Butler previously held the IBF bantamweight title, outpointing Stuart Hall in June 2014 before vacating in pursuit of winning a belt one division below at junior bantamweight. It proved futile, as Butler suffered his first career defeat in an eighth-round knockout at the hands of Zolani Tete in March 2015. Butler’s lone other loss came in a twelve-round decision to Emmanuel Rodriguez in their May 2018 vacant IBF bantamweight title fight.

Inoue has won his first major title at strawweight, doing so in just his sixth pro fight when he stopped Adrian Hernandez in the sixth round of their April 2014 WBC junior flyweight title fight. Two fights later, Inoue was a two-division champ after knocking out long-reigning WBO junior bantamweight champ Omar Narvaez in the second round of their December 2014 title fight. It capped a three-win campaign recognized by BS.com as the 2014 Fighter of the Year.

More than three years later came Inoue’s assault on the bantamweight division, beginning with a first-round knockout Jamie McDonnell in their May 2018 secondary WBA title fight.

Inoue officially became a three-division titlist following a second-round knockout of Rodriguez in their May 2019 IBF title fight during the semifinal round of the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight tournament. He won the series outright after outpointing Donaire in their November 2019 classic, adding the WBA ‘Super’ title to his collection. Four knockout wins have followed, including his wipeout of Donaire in their three-belt unification bout in June.

Butler will enter his first multi-belt fight as a massive underdog, though riding an eight-fight win streak. The bout will mark his first outside of the U.K., while Inoue fights at home in Japan for the third straight time.

[Spud]

This fight will be a total mismatch.

Inoue inside 2 rounds

[Glass Joe]

Get a good trip out of it, always wanted to go to Japan.

[margaret thatcher]

shame inoue vs casimero didnt happen, someone with some serious fire power of their own. butlers carrying a butter knife to a sword fight

[THEBUTCH]

December seems so far off.

Butler is ridiculously up against it, but there's worse matches to be made in truth (and better), plus with Inoue in a position to remove any possible doubt who the world bantamweight is...it's ok.

I just wish it was a couple of months sooner, so we can start looking forward to Inoue's next fight.

[Ruthless-RKO]

I just wish it was a couple of months sooner, so we can start looking forward to Inoue's next fight.

Butler can train his whole life and unfortunately, he'll still be stopped in a few..

[THEBUTCH]

Yup, how on earth Butler will cope with Inoue's power and timing I don't know

[forcefraser]

Butler gets rooted. Simples as dat

[margaret thatcher]

if butler pooped his shorts vs rodriguez, i can only imagine what inoue's body shots will do

[chinarich]

Butler will get annihilated but deserves respect for taking the challenge, he could have probably managed a couple of soft defences at home and stayed a belt holder for longer. Not many fighters get the chance to fight for the undisputed championship, which is something even if he’s a massive underdog.