Naoya Inoue vs Paul Butler – Who wins undisputed bantamweight clash?
‘The Baby Faced Assassin’ faces a ‘Monster’
Paul Butler (34-2, 15KO) has a ‘Monster’ task ahead of him as he meets Naoya Inoue (23-0, 20KO) 6,000 miles away from home in Japan.
Their clash, on December 13, will crown the first ever undisputed bantamweight champion in a four-belt era; the last undisputed titlist at 118lbs was when Enrique Pinder defeated Rafael Herrera in 1972 – over 50 years ago!
It took Inoue just four fights to become a national champion, then a world champion in his sixth, then a two-weight champ in his eighth, which was a record until Lomachecko did it in seven not long after. Still just 29-years-old, Inoue is a three-weight world champion.
The Tokyo trooper is known as ‘Monster’ for a reason. He has steamrolled through his opponents in such devastating fashion, knocking out 20 from 23 to boast an 87% KO ratio. He has only had to do 127 rounds from a scheduled 264, and has KO’d his last four foes in a row. The last person to take him the distance was Nonito Donaire in that epic 2019 WBSS Final, and is the only person in the last six years to hear the final bell against Inoue.
But, when they met again, two-and-a-half years later, in June this year, Inoue blasted the Filipino legend away in just two rounds. After a scouting mission in the first round, the pair exchanging jabs on the outside, a brief exchange in the final moments saw Inoue slip inside the middle to land a chopping right hook to Donaire's chin, instantly decking him. It spurred Inoue on for the second stanza where he really let his hands go to land a short, crunching left hook that wobbled Nonito badly to back him into the corner where a pair of one-twos to the head culminating in a chopping left hook dropped the Filipino for a final time to end the fight within five minutes.
He scores knockouts, on average, every 4-5 rounds. To say that Inoue is powerful doesn’t do him justice. His power freakish, there’s very few who have dynamite in both fists like he has.
But he's not just all about power, his overall boxing ability is of the highest standard and his footwork is sublime. He is sharp and quick on his feet with good upper body movement. The man from the Land of the Rising Sun has it all.
Briton Butler is a fine fighter with fantastic movement and all-round ability. He has only managed to stop one in his last eight opponents; with a 42% KO ratio, he is not known for his power. However, he has dropped many opponents with single shots before, so he can land cleanly and heavily. He has a mean left hook shot to the body on him, which has decked many opponents before.
Trained by Joe Gallagher, the Ellesmere Port pugilist has won British and Commonwealth titles, and World in two different weights.
His last fight against pressure-fighter Jonas Sultan will have provided great preparation for Inoue's style, but he’s still going in with the best opponent of his entire career. As the underdog, there’ll be less pressure on his shoulders, but there must be a huge amount of pressure to enter the ring with a pound-for-pound KO artist, especially so far away from home in the opponent's backyard. However, the motivation to become the first undisputed bantamweight champ in 50 years will provide huge motivation, also knowing that victory here could replace Lloyd Honeyghan's upset over Don Curry as the best British win abroad.
Betting Odds
The odds are very lopsided with Inoue 1/33 to win at Betway, while Butler is a 9/1 outsider. The odds for a draw are 25/1, which suggest that’s a result not widely expected.
Predictions
Trainer Joe Gallagher will have provided Butler with the best game plan and preparation for this fight, but for the Cheshire man to go 12 rounds with one of the world’s most devastating punchers is going to be a hard ask.
I’m sure Butler will make Britain proud with a brave performance. I hope he can give it a good go for a few rounds, but, sadly, I don’t expect him to make it past the middle rounds. Naoya Inoue stop Paul Butler between rounds 1-6.
