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

[Nightmare Roy]

sounding like a proper 50/50 from what I'm reading on here

[margaret thatcher]

someone here, is it my man skansta, always says good european level = world class, but paul butler to me is a case to the contrary

very handy below world level, but i didnt give him a single round vs rodridugez or tete. i suspect i wont vs inoue either

[margaret thatcher]

by the way, butler has had the type of career tommy patty ward should be having

[Ruthless-RKO]

by the way, butler has had the type of career tommy patty ward should be having

100%

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

I hope we get this fight on tv.

It’s gonna be on Prime in Japan, ESPN+ in US.

What about Butler’s home country?

Probellum are fvcked with no TV deal.

Where can we watch it?

Gonna be stuck on FITE or something.

Will probably be around noon in the UK and it’s mid week.

[Glass Joe]

I hope we get this fight on tv.

It’s gonna be on Prime in Japan, ESPN+ in US.

What about Butler’s home country?

Probellum are fvcked with no TV deal.

Where can we watch it?

Gonna be stuck on FITE or something.

Will probably be around noon in the UK and it’s mid week.

most of us fisherman will just watch it on ESPN plus.

Butler won the lottery here, winning the belt after the sauna thing now going to Japan for a pay day.

[Spud]

The more I think about this fight, the more I think its one of the biggest mismatches that a british fighter has been involved in regarding world titles.

I dont blame Butler wanting a pay day but for Butler to pull this off it will be the greatest achievement from a British fighter fighting overseas.

Butler needs a miracle

[KiwiRider]

The more I think about this fight, the more I think its one of the biggest mismatches that a british fighter has been involved in regarding world titles.

I dont blame Butler wanting a pay day but for Butler to pull this off it will be the greatest achievement from a British fighter fighting overseas.

Butler needs a miracle

Agree, but they do happen, especially in boxing.
And let's face it, some guys are just other guys kryptonite. Who knows.
I'm going to watch it. I hope there are some good Japanese domestic scraps on the undercard, they tend to be great and we get so few fights out of Japan now.

[samwbr]

Extremely dangerous assignment for Butler and most likely his final payday.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Extremely dangerous assignment for Butler and most likely his final payday.

He probably will retire after this..

He got a world title reign..

Didn’t have to be beat the champion either.

[ster400]

paul butler is an e-mail champ lol

[skanksta]

paul butler is an e-mail champ lol

harsh.
He's had a good career, hope he shows up well vs The Monster, gets paid and enjoys his retirement.

[Deserter]

The more I think about this fight, the more I think its one of the biggest mismatches that a british fighter has been involved in regarding world titles.

Shades of Barrera vs Wenton and Lloyd...

[stujones]

The more I think about this fight, the more I think its one of the biggest mismatches that a british fighter has been involved in regarding world titles.

Shades of Barrera vs Wenton and Lloyd...

Tim Austin vs Lloyd also.

This one might be up there for though in terms of a mismatch in which there are two belt holders or the champion is the one getting the pasting. We've had plenty where the Brit has been out of his depth in a title challenge.

Andrade vs Rose
Cotto vs Jennings
Pavlik vs Lockett
Broner vs Rees
Alexander vs Purdy


Robinson vs Hamed whilst not on paper ended up being a one sided affair against the champion.

[margaret thatcher]

paul butler is an e-mail champ lol

harsh.
He's had a good career, hope he shows up well vs The Monster, gets paid and enjoys his retirement.

he had a good career, but winning 2 world titles by beating stuey hall and jonas sultan is as fortunate as it gets. he's a euro level fighter max and couldnt win a round vs tete or roddy

[Manchester Hitman]

Paul Butler is going bang this overrated dude out..no problem

[KiwiRider]

I hope we get this fight on tv.

It’s gonna be on Prime in Japan, ESPN+ in US.

What about Butler’s home country?

Probellum are fvcked with no TV deal.

Where can we watch it?

Gonna be stuck on FITE or something.

Will probably be around noon in the UK and it’s mid week.

most of us fisherman will just watch it on ESPN plus.

Butler won the lottery here, winning the belt after the sauna thing now going to Japan for a pay day.

That's if you think "winning the lottery" means getting your brain scrambled, and losing your title by the beast that tore the head off Godzilla in Toyko bay and sh*t down it's neck

[Ruthless-RKO]

Inoue-Butler Undisputed Clash To Land At Ariake Arena in Tokyo

The first undisputed bantamweight championship clash in more than 50 years now has a home.

The December 13 four-belt unification clash between Naoya Inoue and Paul Butler will land at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, event promoter Ohashi Promotions revealed during a press conference Thursday morning. The location reveal comes nearly two months after the fight was secured.

“I want to etch my name in the history of boxing and change the history of the Japanese boxing world,” Inoue stated during Thursday’s press conference. “For the next two months, I want to do what I can and get in the ring. [Butler] is a very well-rounded fighter with no holes. The perception is that I will weaken him little by little with my own boxing and knock him out.

“I want to overwhelm [Butler] with my power to unify the four titles.”

Inoue puts his lineal/WBC/WBA/IBF bantamweight titles at stake, while Butler attempts the first defense of his WBO title for a fight that will stream live on a Tuesday morning via ESPN+ in the United States. The winner will become the division’s first undisputed champion since 1973, when Enrique Pinder’s WBA/WBC reign ended with his being stripped of the WBC belt ahead of an eventual loss to Romeo Anaya.

A win by Inoue (23-0, 20 KOs) will see the three-division champion and pound-for-pound entrant become Japan’s first undisputed champion in the three- or four-belt era. 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, 15 KOs) 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 saw the troubled 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. BS.com 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.

Takuma Inoue (16-1, 3 KOs) will fight on the show’s undercard against the Philippines’ Jake Bornea (14-3-1, 7 KOs), it was announced Thursday.

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.

[Ruthless-RKO]

It's a shame we didn't see Butler vs. Casimero.. Not Butler's fault of course. Would have been good to see if Butler could have beaten him and then possibly could have seen Inoue vs. Casimero.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Undercard

Naoya’s younger brother Takuma (16-1, 3 KO), a former bantamweight title challenger and currently contending at 122 lbs, will take on unbeaten Filipino Jade Bornea (18-0, 12 KO).

Featherweight Satoshi Shimizu (10-1, 9 KO) will fight for the first time since May 2021, facing an opponent to be named for his OPBF featherweight title.

OPBF junior featherweight titleholder Yoshiki Takei (5-0, 5 KO) will face Bruno Tarimo (26-3-2, 5 KO), a Tanzanian-born Australian coming off of a loss in Manchester last December to Zelfa Barrett.

Junior welterweight Andy Hiraoka (21-0, 16 KO) will continue, at age 26, fighting opponents who don’t crack the BoxRec top 200 as he faces South Korea’s Min Ho Jung (13-3-2, 3 KO).

British prospect Peter McGrail (4-0, 3 KO) will get a spot on a big international card as he faces Hironori Miyake (9-12-2, 1 KO) in an eight-round junior featherweight bout. McGrail is also in action this coming Saturday in Liverpool, where he faces veteran Alexander Espinoza on a Probellum card, and any sort of setback there — including a bad cut or the like — could change his Tokyo plans, but for now he’s on the card.

[Glass Joe]

we need a poll on what rd its over in.

[Ruthless-RKO]

we need a poll on what rd its over in.

I don't want to disrespect Butler..

I'll do that closer to the time.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Paul Butler has it all to do against the brilliant Naoya Inoue.

Paul Butler goes in search of boxing immortality in December when he faces Naoya Inoue for the undisputed world bantamweight title.

The WBO champion tackles Japanese hero Inoue, at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, on Tuesday, December 13 on a historic night for the sport.

Inoue holds the IBF, WBA and WBC belts and wants to clean up the division before moving up in weight – but two-time world champion Butler holds the missing piece of the puzzle.

And the fighter from Ellesmere Port, in the UK, heads to the Land of the Rising Sun, fully intent on becoming boxing’s first undisputed bantamweight champion in half a century and scoring one of the biggest away wins by a British fighter ever.

“I’ve been boxing for over 20 years and all the successes and set-backs have led me here, to the biggest fight of my career, with the biggest prize in the sport on offer,” said Butler

“I am under no illusions as to the size of the task that faces me, but I have been going to bed dreaming of becoming the undisputed bantamweight champion of the world.

“Inoue is a phenomenal fighter but not one person should be underestimating me, my skills, or my resolve. I am going to Japan to write my name into the history of our sport.”

[ThereByTheGrace]

we need a poll on what rd its over in.

Probably better having a poll in what minute it'll be over. I'll say 5