Paul Butler ends fairy tale title run of Stuart Hall

Paul Butler ends fairy tale title run of Stuart Hall

Boxing, as with life in general, is a cyclical process. Seasoned champions eventually make way for a young upstart to forge a legacy at the highest level of boxing.

That was the case on Saturday as Stuart Hall’s (16-3-2, 7 knockouts) fairy-tale spell as IBF bantamweight champion ended at the hands of Paul Butler (16-0, 8 KO’s).

Hall’s victorious night against Vusi Malinga seems so distant, despite being only a shade over six months ago. The 34-year-old has fought in three world title fights including the Malinga war, a feat that seemed only a pipe dream this time last year. His stature in and out of the ring has grown ten-fold and his presence among the elite at bantamweight is both acknowledged and welcomed.

Despite being cast off as a 3/1 outsider with British bookmakers, Hall put up one hell of a scrap. Anyone who watched the Malinga fight knew what holding a world belt meant to ‘Stuey’ and he refused to roll over in the face of Butler’s challenge.

Ultimately, the superior boxing skills of Butler paid dividends as he ran out a split decision winner; 115-113 was scored for each fighter, with the deciding card a wide but acceptable 117-111 in favour of Butler.

Hall applied the pressure and ploughed forward relentlessly, but the unbeaten fighter’s ability to slip and slide in defence of Hall’s punches off the ropes ultimately made him too elusive for the Darlington-born to catch with any hurtful shots.

However, the early rounds belonged to the challenger as he forced a fast pace; surprising, given many observers believed Butler would gas as Hall came on strong in the later rounds.

A battle for centre ring developed early on as both fighters raced to win the jab exchanges. Butler’s was the more effective and followed up by three-and-four punch combinations. Their effect on the champion was minimal, who shrugged his shoulder several times before re-engaging, but they scored points nonetheless.

Through four rounds, all the meaningful work came from Butler’s hands. His lightning quick speed forced Hall into a defensive shell every time he came forward, with no attempt to counter back. Hall knew his technical limitations and his opponent’s superior speed made it relatively impossible to counter at range, but slowly turned the fight back into his favour.

As the younger man initially showed signs of slowing, Hall began to dictate a pace and force Butler to skip around towards the ropes. Occasionally, Butler would beckon the champion in for a flurry; although not much landed cleanly as Butler rode the shots well, Hall grew in confidence and clearly began to catch the judges’ eyes.

Fighting with an open wound above his left eye after round five, the champion continued to absorb Butler’s shots and landed some stock straight rights of his own, catching the attention of his opponent on several occasions. The issue was Hall’s porous defence, allowing Butler’s four-punch combination to go to work without much thought.

Later rounds provided questions of Butler’s stamina but he answered them convincingly, continuing to go toe-to-toe with Hall in the final three rounds. Round 12 was a typical firecracker as both fighters threw everything they had to complete a great fight for the North East of England.

Butler has welcomed in a new era of British boxing world champions, but Hall proved he is far from a washed up force at 118lbs. A rematch down the line cannot be discounted, but Frank Warren hinted after that Butler’s future may lie at super flyweight, his natural fighting weight.

Unbeaten American Randy Caballero is now mandatory challenger to Butler, but don’t discount the Scouser taking a different route.”

-Luke Bidwell / @luke_bidwell
-Contributor to www.BehindTheGloves.com