By Ian S Palmer
Stuart Hall will be attempting to retain his IBF Bantamweight Championship against Paul Butler this Saturday, June 7 at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, England. Hall fought to a technical draw against Martin Ward back on March 29 in his first defense. The bout was ended in the second round after Ward couldn’t continue due to an accidental head butt. Hall had won the vacant crown with a unanimous decision over Vusi Malinga last December 21.
The 34-year-old Hall of Darlington enters the fight with a record of 16-2-2 with 7 Kos. He stands 5-feet-8 and is a former European and Commonwealth champion. The 25-year-old Butler hails from Ellesmere Port in Merseyside England and carries a perfect record around with him at 15-0 along with 8 Kos. Butler’s last fight took place back on March 8 in Liverpool when he stopped Oreste Bernabe Nieva in the fourth round for the vacant WBA Intercontinental Bantamweight crown. Before that he managed to beat Ruben Montoya via a unanimous to take the WBO and WBA Intercontinental Super Flyweight titles.
Neither boxer will be well known to North American fans as they’ve never really stepped into the ring with any elite fighters even though Hall is a world champion. Hall believes he has what it takes to hand Butler his first pro loss and told the British press, “He’s lost the plot. He’s saying I’ll be blowing after four rounds, and that he’s going to up the gears. He thinks he’s some sort of superman. I’ve never wished my life away so much; I’ve been wishing the days away, because I’m going to do a number on Paul Butler.”
The two have sparred against each other in the past and Butler claims that he got the best of the champion in those sessions and is now going to do the same in the ring on Saturday night to take Hall’s title from him in front of his family and hometown fans. Hall claims that’s not going to happen and he’ll retain his title by any means possible, but he’s hoping for a knockout. He isn’t shy about going 12 hard rounds though if he has to since the only thing that matters is winning the fight.
Prediction
These two Britons match up against each other quite evenly. They’ve both got decent power and pretty solid chins. Butler of curse has a nine-year age advantage on the champion and is a slight favourite according to the bookmakers. Hall needs to make sure he doesn’t go looking for a stoppage since he could start loading up on single punches. If he fails to connect then he’ll likely find himself behind on the scorecards. Butler has to remember he’s the challenger here and should be the aggressor to leave no doubt in the judges’ minds. This is another bout that could go either way in terms of the winner and the distance, but let’s go with Hall to retain his belt.
