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Cloutier’s Canada Corner
Steven Butler: "The Greatest
Feeling Of My Boxing Career"
By Daniel Cloutier
MONTRÉAL - The promoter-manager of The Eye Of The Tiger
Management Group in Montréal, Camille Estephan, was forced
to change the main event of the boxing show he was
presenting Saturday evening at the Olympia Theatre in
downtown of Montréal.
The Montrealer middleweight David Lemieux (34-3-0) and the
Texan James De La Rosa (23-3-0) were supposed to fight in
the main event, but the fight has been cancelled Friday at
the weight in, because Lemieux was overweight. Finally, the
main event involved the Montrealer Steven Butler, one of the
best prospects of the Canadian pro boxing. Butler is 20
years old.
And Butler (15-0-1) won the most significant fight of his
career. He became the new IBF Junior-Youth super
welterweight champion of the world (for fighters of 21 years
or less), in beating Sladjan Janjanin (13-1-0), from Bosnia,
by TKO in the third round of a bout scheduled for 10.
“Its absolutely fantastic, said Butler en getting out of the
ring. I am living the greatest moments and greatest feelings
of my boxing career. I said few days ago that I would be the
only one in our fight to get out of the ring undefeated, and
I was right. I am so proud. I just won a significant title,
and I became the first fighter to beat Janjanin. No doubt
this win will increase substantially my credibility on the
international boxing scene. I really hope to be ranked by
the IBF this year, to get eventually an opportunity to fight
in a real world championship fight. Tonight, like you saw
it, I hit Janjanin very hard to the head and the body. I
could see how much my body shots were hurting him. He showed
a lot of courage in the circumstances, but I am not
surprised at all by the result of the bout.”
Butler hurt seriously his opponent in the second round with
power shots to the head and the body, and he provoked two
knockdowns. And Janjanin was again in serious trouble in the
third round. Butler hurt him several times. For the referee
Mike Griffin, it was enough. Griffin declared Janjanin TKO.
The bout has been stopped 47 seconds before the end this
third round.
“Steven is intense and spectacular, and no doubt he will
become extremely popular in Montréal in the years to come,
said Camille Estephan. But we will take our time with him,
because he is young and he needs to get more experience. I
am sure he will become a star on the international boxing
scene.”
Just before the bout Butler-Janjanin, the Montrealer super
middleweight Schiller Hyppolite, who is ranked seven
contender by the WBC in the 168 pounds division, improved
his record to 20-1-0 with a win by unanimous decision in 10
rounds over Darnell Boone, from Atlanta.
However, Hyppolite got a very difficult sixth round. Boone,
who showed on the ring with a record of… 23-22-4, sent
Hyppolite on the floor in this sixth round. The Montrealer
seemed in trouble when he got back in his corner at the end
of the round, but he came back and found the way to dominate
the action in the following rounds.
Boone fought twice the actual WBC light heavyweight champion
of the world, the Montrealer southpaw Adonis Stevenson
(27-1-0). He won the first fight by KO, and lost the rematch
by KO.
“Boone is a tough fighter, he tried everything to knock me
out, but I came back after a rough sixth round, and I
certainly dominate the fight”, said Hyppolite, who hopes to
be involved in a world championship fight or an elimination
bout for a world title this year or next year.
The Montrealer super welterweight Mian Hussain improved his
record to 15-0-0, with a win by unanimous decision in six
rounds over the Italian Tobia Giuseppe Loriga (28-7-2).
Hussain, who dominated clearly the bout, sent twice his
opponent on the floor.
The heavyweight Simon Kean, from Trois-Rivières, Québec, one
of the last acquisition of The Eye Of The Tiger Management
Group, increased his record to 4-0-0, with a victory by TKO
in the second round over Travis Fulton (23-42-1), from Cedar
Falls, Iowa, An easy evening for Kean…
The super lightweight Ayaz Hussain, the Mian Hussain's
brother, obtained his 10th win in pro boxing (10-0-0), in
beating the Polish Jacek Wylezol (14-14-0) by TKO in the
second round. Wylezol went on the canvas once.
The Montrealer super lightweight Mathieu Germain stayed
undefeated (6-0-0) with a win by unanimous decision in six
rounds over the Mexican Noel Meija Rincon (14-8-1). Germain
provoked a knockdown in the last round with a solid left
hook on the chin.
In the opening bout of the evening, the referee declared a
«no contest» after only one minute and a half of action. The
Montrealer super lightweight Battyrzhan Jukembayev, a
fighter coming from Kazakstan who was involved in his first
pro bout, pushed severely the Montrealer Ready Hernandez
(0-1-0) in the first round. Hernandez, who went on the
canvas, said he was unable to get back on his feet. He said
he got an ankle’s sprain.
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