Paul Butler believes he is currently preparing for the 'toughest task in boxing' with his showdown against Naoya Inoue just weeks away.
WBO title holder Butler travels to Japan to face Inoue in Tokyo on December 13, with the winner of the historic bout set to become boxing’s first undisputed bantamweight champion in half a century. Nicknamed the 'Monster', Inoue holds the IBF, WBA and WBC belts and wants to clean up the division before moving up in weight – but two-time world champion Butler holds the missing piece of the puzzle.
Inoue made history back in June when he beat Nonito Donaire in a second-round technical knockout to became the first Japanese boxer to hold a world title from three different sanctioning bodies in a single weight division. Butler (34-2, 15 KOs), who won the WBO interim title in April with a unanimous points victory over Jonas Sultan at Probellum Liverpool, was then upgraded to full champion after John Riel Casimero was stripped of the belt.
READ MORE: 'I am coming' - Nick Ball fires world title warning after brutal Jesus Ramirez Rubio knockout
Inoue has won all 23 of his bouts since he turned professional a decade ago – 20 of them by knockout – and Butler knows he is set to face the toughest test of his career, but it is one he must pass if he is to become undisputed champion.
He said: “It is the toughest task in boxing. I have said it to everyone. My dad said it to me about six or seven weeks ago. This is the toughest task in boxing.
“You look around at the divisions, there are question marks over everyone in terms of who is the best, but Inoue stands out in the bantamweight division.
“I don’t think anyone out there is saying so and so will beat Inoue at bantamweight. It is the toughest task in boxing, but it is something that I have signed up for.
“I am looking forward to it. People say you are mad, but listen, mad is what I want. There is no other way of being an undisputed champion than facing Inoue.”
With the bout less than a month away, Butler has been training hard with his coach, Joe Gallagher, at his Bolton gym.
“Prep has gone really good. I’m in a good place. It is probably 10 weeks since we have been grafting and training hard,” he told the ECHO.
“It is probably the best place I have been in, both physically and mentally. I’m enjoying everything. I wake up with a smile on my face when I am going to the gym.”
READ MORE:
