“Conlan’s an easy fight for me. It’ll be over in six rounds!”
UK fight fans are salivating at the prospect of a super-flyweight shootout between Belfast’s Jamie Conlan and Ellesmere Port’s Paul Butler, but the latter tells them to expect a one-sided massacre.
‘I don’t rate Conlan at all. I just don’t understand all the hype. Seriously, it’s an easy fight for me. It’ll be over within six rounds,’ says the 27 year old ‘Baby Faced Assassin’ who held the IBF World Bantamweight title in 2014.
‘Jamie forgets that I properly spanked him as an amateur at the (July) 2007 Commonwealth Federation Championships in Liverpool. I was boxing at 48 kilos at the time but stepped up to 51 at just two days notice and thrashed him 29-12. I remember he was pretty weak. It wasn’t even a race!
‘To be honest, I requested the Conlan fight for my comeback after losing my world title challenge to (Zolani) Tete. But they now want us both to go head-to-head in Dublin next February to build up a big (WBO) world title eliminator for around May. I’d happily fight him now.
‘Money will dictate the venue but, believe me, if I had a choice, I’d love to go to Belfast and walk to the ring first with all his crowd booing me as a wait for him. Hopefully the media will build up the England-Ireland thing a bit, just like Frampton v Quigg. I love a bit of grit!’
Britain is yet to deliver a world champion in the 115lb division’s 35 year existence but latterly the home 8st 3lb scene has become fashionable with Conlan, Butler and reigning British champ Kal Yafai all carrying the potential to break the domestic duck.
‘The rivalry that is building up between me and Conlan are spicing things up for us, adding digits to our cheques,’ acknowledges Butler, a 2010 ABA champion who has triumphed in 19 of 20 pro starts with 10 stoppage wins.
But before Butler can contemplate resurfacing on the world stage, the vicious ‘Arnie’ Farnell coached box-fighter knows he must shine when he resumes duty on the blockbuster ‘Xmas Cracker’ bill at Manchester Arena on 19th December, live and exclusive on BoxNation.
And it’s no formality. Rumbling out of the opposite corner comes Madrid based Romanian Silvio Olteanu, a well seasoned, well travelled ex two-time European champion and world title challenger down at flyweight.
‘This has to be Frank’s best card of 2015 and there’s sure to be a great crowd. I’ve requested that I’m on nice and early so that I can enjoy the world title fights from ringside after delivering a spectacular display myself,’ says Butler.
‘I’ve never been a huge one for studying opponents on tape. I’ll just watch a couple of minutes tops then turn it off.
‘All I know is that Olteanu’s a former European champion who gave (Daiki) Kameda a close fight for the WBA flyweight title over in Japan. He’s definitely a big step up from the last two opponents I fought so I’ll be bang up for it. I’ve already started sparring.
‘Olteanu’s fought in very good company yet he’s never been stopped in almost 11 years as a pro. But he’s a career flyweight and he’s getting on a bit now. I’ll definitely be looking to get him out of there early, pick up another title and get myself right back into the mix with all the major sanctioning bodies.’
Josh Warrington back on O2 bill on December 12
Josh Warrington will defend his WBC International Featherweight title at The O2 in London on December 12.
The Leeds star is hunting a showdown with WBC champion Lee Selby having defended the title with a shutout win against mutual opponent Joel Brunker in his hometown fortress in Leeds, and the will be out to impress on the bumper London bill as he aims for World title action in 2016.
“2016 is going to be a very big year for me,” said Warrington. “I can only beat who is in-front of us – but it’s time to step it up and fight these guys at world level. The Selby fight has been spoke about but by this time next year, I think I’ll be ready for anyone.
“It was a great performance against Brunker, I was written off by many people who didn’t expect me to go past five rounds. We had a great camp and stuck to the game plan – it worked perfectly. We expected him to come forward and try to over-power me. We had ways of dealing with his pressure and barrage of punches.
“I’ve been down to the O2 a few times, I was there to watch Lee take the World title from Evgeny Gradovich in May. It’s a great venue and a massive card to be a part of – it has the top stars in British boxing and something I’m proud to now be a part of.
“I want to box all over the country, it’s well documented that I have a great fanbase in Leeds – but I’ve been out to Germany already and I’m keen to grow my fanbase across the UK. Anthony Joshua has done it and it’s the right approach to have to be a big star.”
Warrington is part of a stacked bill at The O2 where bitter Heavyweight rivals Anthony Joshua MBE and Dillian Whyte clash for the British and Commonwealth Heavyweight titles.
Chris Eubank Jr and Spike O’Sullivan meet in a final eliminator for the WBA World Middleweight title, Liverpool Cruiserweight favourite Tony Bellew faces Mateusz Masternak, while Kevin Mitchell and Luke Campbell MBE both also feature.
