By David P. Greisman

Super welterweight prospect Steven Butler’s eight-round win over Antonio Hoffmann this past Saturday will land him a prime spot. Butler will be the co-featured bout on the March 12 show in Montreal with a main event of former middleweight titleholder David Lemieux returning from his loss to Gennady Golovkin by taking on James De La Rosa.

Butler will face Sladjan Janjanin, a prospect from Bosnia And Herzegovina with a record of 13-0 and 11 KOs.

Hoffman was also 13-0 (with 9 KOs) going into the Butler fight. Butler knocked Hoffman down in the opening round and continued to batter him for the remainder of the first. Hoffman steadied himself and gave Butler some good resistance, only for Butler to show his class, build a lead and then score another knockdown shortly before the final round ended. He ran across the ring to try to finish the fight but couldn’t make it to Hoffman before the bell rang.

“Hoffmann was no slouch and gave Butler great opposition,” said Butler’s manager, Camille Estephan, corresponding with BoxingScene.com afterward. “Butler showed poise, skills, maturity, versatility, and fought orthodox and southpaw. He showed power, speed, a chin and character going through adversity and more.”

The Hoffmann win was Butler’s second time going the full eight rounds. The Janjanin bout will be his first scheduled 10-rounder. The 20-year-old turned pro in 2014 and is now 14-0-1 with 11 KOs. The draw came last June against Jaime Herrera.

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