Paul Butler (34-2, 15 KOs) could hit her goal of becoming the undisputed bantamweight champion later this year.
The 33-year-old’s final win over Jonas Sultan earned him the Interim WBO title but soon he was raise to full state after John Riel Casimero was stripped of his belt. Butler is currently a two-time champion at 118lbs after winning the IBF version against Stuart Hall in 2014.
Butler’s first chance to defend his championship could come in Japan against triple title holder Naoya Inoue, who competed yesterday in Saitama. The 29-year-old overcomes a brief threat from Nonito Donaire and destroys the Filipino veteran in two innings to claim his WBC title in the process.. The undefeated knockout now wants all four belts at 118lbs.
“There’s been talk of an undisputed fight and Inoue’s team wants the next fight before he goes up again, so that means this year,” he said. Butler told DAZN.
“Undisputed is everything to him and he couldn’t have done it before fighting me. I’m desperate for the fight and I’m going to go there and give it all I have because that’s what it takes to beat a fighter like Inoue. “
The two rivals link Inoue and Butler’s careers, but one exaggerates the scale of the quest at hand for ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’. Emmanuel Rodriguez lost his IBF Bantamweight belt in two rounds to the Japanese in 2019. A year earlier, the Puerto Rican had left Butler’s second career defeat by beating him. 12 rounds, beat the opponent twice in the first round.
