ELLESMERE PORT bantamweight Paul Butler, 36-3 (17), will return to title motion on May 11 when he fights Norbelto Jimenez of the Dominican Republic for the lesser-regarded IBO model of the bantamweight crown.
The fight, which will happen in Ellesmere Port (just two miles from Butler’s home), marks Butler’s first scheduled 12-rounder since shedding towards Naoya Inoue in a spirited however finally unsuccessful title problem in December 2022. Following that defeat Butler has fought twice, stopping Jeison Cervantes in six rounds and Nabil Ahmed in two, however has but to search out himself in one other title fight or certainly threatened by a well-ranked opponent.
That will change towards Jimenez, nevertheless.
Jimenez, 33-10-6 (18), is a well-recognized face within the decrease weight courses and has beforehand boxed for the WBA super-flyweight belt not as soon as however twice; drawing towards Kohei Kono in Japan in 2014 after which shedding a unanimous resolution towards Khalid Yafai in 2019. More not too long ago he has been seeing combating to a draw towards Filipino veteran Donnie Nietes and shedding extensively on the playing cards towards Andrew Moloney, one of many world’s greatest super-flyweights.
Very a lot a gatekeeper, then, the problem for Butler on May 11 will be to maybe cease Jimenez, one thing no opponent has managed since 2011 (when Juan Gabriel Guzman Pichardo achieved the feat). Even if unable to, although, there’s a assured sturdiness to Jimenez his earlier two opponents have lacked and that, for Butler, may very well be just what he wants as he launches one last run at a serious title; or, to make use of Butler’s phrases, one of many “big-boy belts”.
“If I didn’t fight in December (against Ahmed) I’d have probably thought, F**k it, I can’t be arsed, and hung the gloves up,” Butler admitted to Boxing News this afternoon (April 5). “I do know the child was no good in December, and he would have by no means taken a spherical off me in 50 rounds, however I just wanted one thing. I wanted one thing to get me on the market and remind myself I used to be boxer.
“I received that in December, which I used to be joyful about, after which the plan was to fight Prince Patel. But he clearly vacated his belt, which didn’t actually come as a shock. You solely have to have a look at his document to see he hasn’t boxed anybody. He then didn’t win the purse bids for the fight and funnily sufficient he vacates. I believe he was banking on him profitable the purse bids and me then pondering, F**ok that, I’m not going to Ghana for seven grand. But I’d have achieved.
“We’ve gone through a few opponents and come up with this kid (Jimenez) who has boxed Yafai and Moloney. He is cute on the inside and he throws nice shots. He knows what he’s doing. He’s no divvy. If I’m not on my game, he will definitely take rounds off me. There are plenty of ways to be beat him, though, and I’m sure we’ll turn the screw as the fight goes on.”
Paul Butler together with his coach, Joe Gallagher (Lewis Storey/Getty Images)
Now 35, Butler, a former IBF bantamweight champion, is aware of it’s crucial that he turns the screw on his skilled profession as a complete. He is aware of, in different phrases, that he can not afford to waste time or, for that matter, undergo one other defeat; even when all three of his to this point – towards Naoya Inoue, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Zolani Tete – have come towards the very elite.
“It’s tough trying to explain it to people who don’t really get boxing,” stated Butler. “A couple of of my mates say to me, ‘Yeah, you’re 35 however you’re nonetheless good; you’ve nonetheless received it. You boxed Inoue final 12 months.’ But that’s not the purpose. I can sit right here and inform you that I’m a greater boxer now, knowledge-wise, than I used to be at 24. Paul Butler beats the 24-year-old Paul Butler just as a result of I do know an excessive amount of. But the physique doesn’t provide you with time. It’s like that outdated saying: ‘Father Time waits for no one.’
“I’ve always said that the day my performances start to dip is the day I walk away. I’m not going to be no divvy. I’m not going to have Eddie Hearn ring me up one day and say, ‘I’ve got this young kid you should fight. Take the fight.’ I’ll never be that yardstick. It will never come to that.”
To some extent, Butler boxing in Ellsemere Port on May 11, nearly 15 years after he final boxed there, can be a becoming manner for his boxing profession to conclude. Yet that, relaxation assured, isn’t the plan for Butler.
“It’s an eight-minute drive from me,” he stated. “I haven’t boxed in Ellesmere Port since my last ever amateur fight in 2010. After I won the ABAs, we had a kind of farewell show and the venue was a stone’s throw from where I’ll be boxing in May. So it’s nice to think it has all come full circle.”
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