WBO world bantamweight champion (up to 53.5 kg) Paul Butler (34-2, 15 KOs), writes
Fightnews, “made a strong impression with his speed and skills” in Yokohama, Japan, where he arrived for a unification bout against local “Monster” Naoi Inoue (23-0, 20 KOs). The fight will take place on December 13th.
According to the Brit, he “has a higher IQ than Inoue, who, I admit, is an excellent boxer.”
“But I see some flaws in his defense. He may have his own battle plan, but I have it too. In general, my asset is the “boxing brain”, with which I intend to win, ”Butler emphasized.
Bookmakers do not value the Briton at all and believe that Inoue is almost guaranteed to become the absolute champion.
“Inoue wins by killing.” Butler laughed at the forecasts
However, the manager and promoter of the Japanese Hideyuki Ohashi said after an opponent’s open training that “Paul is a better boxer than we thought, and he can hit. We need to be careful.”
Butler, meanwhile, sets his sights on becoming the first Englishman to win all four belts. This will be the 11th absolute in the era of the four belts.
“I think our last absolute was Lennox Lewis. Since then, no one has taken all four belts from us in this era, ”he said. Regarding England, yes, it is. Scotland, which is part of the United Kingdom with England, had a four-belt absolute last year in Josh Taylor.
There was a case in 2015 when Zolani Tete beautifully knocked out Butler.