After six months of reflecting on his career, Steven Butler is finally getting back in the ring on Tuesday night.
• Also read: Steven Butler is starting over: He isolated himself in Massachusetts to restart his career
• Also read: Big sacrifices
• Also read: The Rise of Steve Claggett
Butler (32-4-1, 26 KOs) will enter the Montreal Casino arena where he will face Mexican Ivan Alvarez (32-14-4, 21 KOs). On paper, it’s a perfect fight to get back in the saddle.
Bang Bang suffered a major disappointment six months ago when he lost to Janibek Alimkhanuly in a WBO middleweight world championship fight.
The second-round setback left a mark that took a long time to erase, and Butler pondered it for several months before returning to training.
Six months later, we can say that it is the moment of truth for the boxer from Montreal, who has made significant changes in his life to put boxing at the center of his concerns.
Moving
The 28-year-old boxer left his family in Quebec to settle in the eastern United States, where he works with trainer John Scully.
The idea behind it? Focus solely on boxing and give himself one last chance to become world champion, something he has dreamed of for a long time.
Tuesday night’s fight should give us some answers about his future. If he makes short work of his opponent, we can say that he is in good spirits.
And to be honest, he seemed to be doing just fine when Le Journal spoke to him last week. He seemed both calm and determined. At Monday’s weigh-in, his eyes beamed with determination.
Steven Butler Photo Martin Chevalier
One step closer
In the main fight of the evening, Albertan Steve Claggett (36-7-2, 25 KOs) also faces a Mexican, Miguel Madueno (30-1-0, 28 KOs).
The 34-year-old Claggett will be putting his NABF super lightweight belt on the line, which he has already defended once. The WBO International title is also at stake.
Claggett is a small boxer who likes to put on a good show and never backs down from an opponent.
This time it will be even truer as he wants to use this fight against an opponent with an impressive record to make a name for himself and rise through the ranks of the world’s various boxing organizations.
Claggett puts it bluntly: His goal is to become the first boxer from Calgary to win a world title, and if his determination is anything to go by, he can do it.
Above all, he has proven over the years that he is resilient and continues to develop even in his mid-thirties. Claggett is the type of boxer who gets better with age because he studies his sport meticulously. Therefore, he should give the amateurs a good fight.
Ivan Alvarez Photo Martin Chevalier
Succession
In the first fights of the evening we make way for the Eye of the Tiger management successor, starting with Luis Santana (10-0-0, 4 KOs), a 25-year-old lightweight from Montreal, who we will face the Mexican Cristian Bielma (19-6-2, 7 KOs).
In his last outing, last September in Gatineau, Santana won by knockout. in the third round against the Mexican Sergio Palafox a technical error that had to be saved by the referee.
We will also see one of the organization’s favorites, Wilkens Mathieu from Quebec, at work.
This one has a perfect record of 4-0-0 and 3 KOs. and is as spectacular as it is methodical. He will give Poland’s Grzegorz Mardyla (1-0-1, 1 KO) a tough time in the ring.
We’ll also see new additions from Eye of the Tiger, namely Russia’s Imam Khataev (4-0-0, 4 KOs) versus Mexico’s Fernandu Galvan (8-8-1, 2 KOs.) as well as France’s Moreno Fendero (1- 0-0) against the Mexican Cristian Lopez Lozano (2-2-0).
Finally, Mehmet Unal (6-0-0, 5 KOs), a Turk based in Montreal, will face Mexican Jaime Hernandez Lopez (10-10-0, 4 KOs).