Wins for Steve Claggett and Steven Butler in Canada
BBN's Canadian reporter, Dave Darling, reported live from ringside in Montreal
Canadian couple Steve Claggett and Steven Butler both chalked up important wins on Tuesday night, November 14, in Montreal on a packed Eye of the Tiger promoted event, and BBN were reporting from ringside to capture all the details from the action.
Dave Darling reports:
Intro
I have watched Steven Butler (37 fights to date) since he began his pro career and despite possessing an aggressive, crowd pleasing style I always saw him as a limited talent destined to top out at the North-American level (especially following his early loss to fellow Canadian Brandon Cook).
In fact, I was quite surprised when he got his first title shot against Ryoto Murata in 2019 (WBA), but not at all with the extremely one sided defeat (TKO – round 5). And despite being totally outclassed in that fight, he then managed to secure a second title shot against a different opponent Zhanibek Alimkhanuly in 2023 (WBO), but with a similar result (KO – round 2). At this point I began to think, while still very young, Butler would never be able to compete at the world level and should probably think about “hanging them up” before he got hurt.
In the past, the Montreal man demonstrated no natural ability or interest in developing any serious defensive skills. On top of that he didn’t have particularly fast or fluid hands and sometimes even telegraphed his punches. In addition, he didn’t possess any of those “cat like” reflexes that more gifted fighters rely on to make their opponents miss and often relied too heavily on simply “walking his man down”.
Advanced counter-punching also seemed ostensibly out of reach as he only appeared effective when moving forward and had nothing on the back foot. No range-finders, or traps to keep his opponents off balance and guessing as well as a complete lack of creativity in the ring. No feints, different looks, changes in rhythm or hand speed. All in all a very predictable and limited approach to his craft. Finally, even his conditioning, his chin and his overall durability also seemed somewhat suspect.
In fact the only things he really had going for him were a naturally lean, rangy body type that afforded him a significant height and reach advantage over most opponents in his weight class, “decent pop” in his punches, as well as a true desire to “mix it up” and fight. And while such attributes are certainly desirable, they were (in my opinion) outweighed by his weaknesses… just too much downside.
So, I have to admit I kind of stopped watching him after that second title loss and never really got back on the “Bam-Bam” bandwagon until last Tuesday night at the Casino de Montreal.
The development team at EOTTM (lead by Marc Ramsey) saw the need to make fundamental changes to Butler’s training regime by bringing in veteran second and former light heavyweight contender John “The Iceman” Scully. He had helped the likes of Chad Dawson and Jose Rivera to world titles and was now ready to take a chance on Steven Butler.
“We had a connection right away and I love his tenacity”, explains Scully. “He's eager to learn and definitely has the mentality of a professional fighter”. Scully then goes on to explain how, while early knockouts are great, he would like Butler to start fighting in a more professional and methodical manner and exhibiting all his skills in the ring.
Steven Butler vs Ivan Alvarez
Against former WBC Youth champion, Alvarez, all of the weaknesses (mentioned earlier) or holes in Butler’s game were filled at one time or another during this fight, which ended via ninth-round knockout, taking his record up to 33-4-1 with 27 KOs.
It’s like he was trying really hard to become a “boxer” in real time right before our eyes. And while much of what he tried was riddled with mistakes (flagrant illegal use of the elbow to push his opponent off and create space being the most glaringly obvious one) some of the new stuff actually worked.
His jab was quick, well timed and fluid, his right hand appeared more “natural” than before and he seemed more patient in his overall approach. Of particular note was a sequence with a little over a minute to go in round 5 when he put his hands down by his side (using them as counterweights) and slipped and dipped away from punches in a beautiful fashion… I mean, even Pernell Whitaker (RIP) would have said, “niiice”. And while not making his opponent pay, he did make him miss and in this particular case that was enough. It tired Alvarez out, probably frustrated him and showed Butler's learning curve in action. And the crowd, seeing something new, let out an audible “wow” as they thoroughly enjoyed the moment.
So while his performance was far from perfect and his report-card somewhat mixed it clearly showed progress. I mean this kind of stuff is all very new to him. After all, he's only been working with Scully for about a month and it will take a while to develop both the skills and muscle memory needed to pull it off when it matters most, in competition.
And finally if he does want to become a more slick, mobile and complete boxer his strength and conditioning regime will also need to go “next level”. Anyone who’s had any ring experience knows that it takes infinitely more energy to move and dance around your opponent than it does to simply stand and punch – that’s why the best “pure boxers” in the sport are also the best conditioned athletes in the sport. Moving “in and out”, “side to side” or “up and down” and often reacting to your opponent's movements is very taxing (especially on the legs). So Butler better be ready and willing to work harder than ever before in this lifetime if he wants to continue to develop this more physically demanding style of fighting.
So just like promotor Antonin Decarie I am also very proud of this young man and wish both him and his new team all the best moving forward. And as mentioned, it won’t be easy as he will have to unlearn “the old habits” while soaking up “the new ones” and seamlessly incorporate them into a broader framework of more advanced ring ready skills.
A Long Shot
Now, at the end of the day, 28-year-old Butler may still not have what it takes to win at the world level and even if he does it may be a little too late in the day for such fundamental changes to take full effect. At this point, however, it represents his best, last and frankly his only chance to properly prepare himself to compete in the upper echelons of the sport and reach the promised land.
So, if this latest fight offers any clue of what’s to come maybe one day we’ll all be able to say, “the Butler did it.”
Steve Claggett vs Miguel Madueno
Another “Steve-Claggett-Classic" fought almost entirely in a "phone booth" at ring centre with lots of pressure and an equal amount of punches. A true veteran of the sport (46 fights) and excellent student of the game Claggett just keeps getting better and better… almost like fine wine that improves with age.
34-year-od Steve is not just a good inside fighter, he’s a great inside fighter – In fact he could probably write a book on it. Eyes wide open and seeing everything, he’s extremely adept at slipping and dipping punches while gently turning his opponent using small lateral steps combined with subtle changes to both head and upper body position. In addition, he’s almost always in position to launch both leads and counter shots (with good rotation) off of this movement and as a result often able to hit his opponents with sneaky, surprise punches that carry cumulative effect.
He also possesses a wide range of punches and usually selects the right ones at the right time and in the right sequence for maximum impact, In fact he always seems to be a half step ahead of most of his opponents, usually beating them to the punch and making them miss… as mentioned, a true inside master of the sport.
So, while serving him well in a fairly one sided decision win over the likes of Madueno, it does nevertheless make him somewhat one dimensional. I fear that when he finally gets in there with a more complete, mobile boxer (with great legs) who can really move and maintain effective distance he will become no more than target practice in a losing effort.
The Calgary combatant moved up to 37-7-2, 25KO, with the unanimous decision victory.
Undercard
Moreno Fendero (middleweight) blasted out Mexican Christian Lozano via TKO in the second round. A celebrated amateur with excellent pedigree, Fendero is one of EOTTM's high-powered young international prospects (France) and now moves to 2 – 0 with the win.
Wilkens Mathieu (super middleweight) was forced to go the distance in a relatively easy one sided decision win over a very durable opponent in Poland's Grzegorz Mardyla. Another very talented (home-grown) prospect Wilkens now moves to 5 – 0 with the victory.
Iman Khataev (light heavyweight) looked devastating in his win over Mexico's Fernando Galvan – A hard puncher from "down-under" Khataev possesses some truly menacing skills including some terrifying hooks to the body – He is another one of EOTTM's international prospects (Australia) and now sports a professional record of 5 – 0.
Mehmet Unal (light heavyweight) also hit the showers early as his opponent (Jaime Lopez) retired on his stool at the end of round 1 due to an undisclosed injury – Unal improves his record to 6 – 0 with the win.
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