Paul Butler has revealed that he will have to travel if he wants to add to his world title collection.
The WBO bantamweight champion has been out of action since receiving the sanctioning body’s interim title in April.
Butler, who had originally planned to face Filipino Johnriel Casimero for the full title at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, eventually usurped Casimero’s teammate Jonas Sultan after the man was subsequently stripped of the title – – allowed Butler to be tall –– was withdrawn due to concerns for his safety.
And after a superb performance, the ‘Baby Face Assassin’, 33, earned the nod on the scoreboard, with the three Merseyside penalty umpires handing out boards number 116-112, 117- 111 and 118-110.
Butler (34-2, 15 KOs) will have a chance to become undisputed champion at £118 later this year after it was confirmed he had agreed to face Naoya Inoue.
Inoue, the Japanese superstar, has a 23-0 record with 20 KOs and is already a three-weight world champion. He currently holds other real estate in bantamweight –– WBA Super, WBC and IBF titles –– and was a previous defender of the WBC world title in lightweight and the WBO crown in super flyweight. .
But Butler doesn’t feel shaken as he prepares to face the 29-year-old undefeated ‘Monster’ on December 13 at the Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
He exclusively told Boxing Social on Thursday:
“I’ve been working hard to get to my place since I was a 10-year-old boy and now I’m challenging number one pound-for-pound for all marbles.”
Butler, who was demoralized online following Inoue’s second-round win over Nonito Donaire in June, has been on eight straight wins since a decisive 2018 loss to Emmanuel Rodriguez, at the O2 Arena in London when the above IBF challenge. bantamweight title, while his other defeat came for the same belt in the super flyweight division in March 2015 when he was knocked down in eight rounds by Zolani Tete, who returned to the ring in October 7 after his mother’s death.
He continued:
“All that online doesn’t bother me at all, that’s why they [the trolls] sitting behind their phones, working from 9am to 5pm.
“Why am I burned? I’ll do mine, you do yours.
“People are erasing me but I did everything. I have been champion of England, champion of the Commonwealth and champion of the world. I’m still a world champion and I plan to add more belts when I beat Inoue, but I know the size of the task I have ahead of me. “
Inoue has the above design claim the WBO belt from Butler before switching weight again, stating that he would “want to move up to super bantamweight” if he “can unify four bantamweight titles this year.”
The winner of the bout will be the first undisputed champion at 118 pounds in nearly 50 years.
Butler added:
“At the end of the day, I will go there, I will give it all I have and if it is not enough, I can sail in a happy sunset because I have achieved everything I need to achieve in one sport. sport to which I have devoted my life.
“I will sail into the sunset and I will be the king worthy of it.”
