Paul Butler Beats Alexander Cazares, Targets Jamie McDonnell

By Elliot Foster

Paul Butler is still on course for a third world after a solid points victory.

The Ellesmere Port sensation suffered a deep gash on the right eye during the fight at the Lagoon Leisure Centre in Paisley, Scotland.

Butler, who is nicknamed ‘The Baby-Faced Assassin’, took every round bar one which was drawn against Alexander Cazares over 10 rounds, exclusively live on BoxNation, as part of the undercard of Billy Joe Saunders’ first WBO middleweight title defence against Russia’s Artur Akavov.

It was a good performance from the Merseysider, who advances to 23-1 with 12 KOs, as he was handed the decision by 100 points to 91.

Cazares was warned by the referee about the use of the shoulder a few times during the fight, but new trainer Joe Gallagher, who has had Butler for two fights now, was happy with the performance of his charge.

Afterwards, his promoter Francis Warren said that a fight with WBA ‘regular’ bantamweight king Jamie McDonnell is one they are keen to make but also said that a pact has been made with the WBO for Butler to fight in a final eliminator in the new year.

In defeat, Cazares –– who is a natural featherweight –– slipped to 13-8 with six early.

Elsewhere, Steven Lewis extended his unbeaten ledger against Spain-based Nicaraguan Nelson Altamirano with an early finish.

The Liverpudlian, fighting out of the Everton Red Triangle gym in the city, is now 13-0 with seven early after producing what was seen as an almost punch-perfect display.

The referee, Kenny Pringle, handed the 24-year-old the victory after halting proceedings after 74 seconds of the fourth round. It was scheduled for eight.

Iain Butcher moved to 15-2 with four early endings after outpointing Joseafat Reyes over six rounds, getting it on the cards by 59-56.

Earlier in the card, there was a win against Jose Luis Gonzalez of Spain for Jono Carroll.

Carroll, who has recently teamed up with Danny Vaughan at MGM Marbella having left Packie Collins at the Celtic Warrior Gym in Dublin, took the decision by 80 points to 73.

He will now be looking at moving into 2017 with the focus being on a potential rematch against Declan Geraghty. The pair fought in November, 2014, and Carroll was disqualified.

And Stephen Ormond exacted revenge over Zoltan Szabo, just nine weeks after their first fight. The Dubliner was knocked out inside five rounds by the Hungarian on October 1 in Glasgow and tonight was awarded a points victory by 79 points to 74.

Meanwhile, there were stoppage victories for both Ahmed Ibrahim and Tommy Philbin, both of whom remain undefeated, and Tommy Dickson, Ross Murray and Paul Kean were all awarded decisions over their respective opponents.