Paul Butler faces Naoya Inoue today in an enormous challenge to try and become the undisputed bantamweight champion of the world.
Never has that title been claimed by one fighter in boxing’s four-belt era, with Japanese knockout artist Inoue the overwhelming favourite to triumph on home soil at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena.
The unbeaten ‘Monster’ is a permanent fixture near the top of every pound-for-pound list and now just needs the WBO title to complete the full set at 118lbs, having added the WBC belt to his WBA, IBF and The Ring gold courtesy of a devastating two-round blitz in a unification rematch with veteran warrior Nonito Donaire back in June.
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW INOUE VS BUTLER LIVE!
The WBO strap is currently Butler’s, after the former IBF champion picked up the interim honours against Jonas Sultan in Liverpool and then was upgraded to full-time title-holder after the stripping of Filipino John Riel Casimero in May.
The 34-year-old ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’ from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, who has also held numerous titles at super-flyweight in his long career, is plotting a massive upset as a major underdog as he seeks to become the first man ever to tame the fearsome Inoue, who surprisingly needed two attempts to make weight on Monday.
Tuesday’s card also includes the likes of Satoshi Shimizu, Andy Hiraoka and Yoshiki Takei, plus Naoya’s younger brother Takuma and British Commonwealth Games gold medalist Peter McGrail.
How to watch Inoue vs Butler
TV channel and live stream: Disappointingly, Inoue vs Butler is not currently being broadcast live anywhere in the UK, despite the presence of a British fighter in an undisputed title battle.
Promoters Top Rank showed Inoue’s rematch with Donaire for free online via their official YouTube page over the summer, only for fight fans in the UK and Ireland, but there has been no such announcement here with time running out.
ESPN+ has the coverage in the United States, while it is on dTV, Amazon Prime Video and Hikari TV in Japan. In Australia, it is being shown courtesy of subscription service Kayo.
