STOCKTON, CA | Steven Butler (32-4-1) couldn’t resist a devastating left-footed shot from Janibek Alimkhanuly (14-0-0) and lost by KO at 2:35 of the second round in a WBO World Middleweight Championship bout at the Stockton Arena on Saturday night.
• Also read: Disappointment in the butler camp
The referee ended the duel after Butler’s third appearance in the second bout of the twelve-round bout.
It wasn’t possible to speak to Butler after the fight as he was being examined by doctors, but his team assured us that despite three visits to the hallway, he was fine and quick-witted.
Things started well for the Montrealer, but things quickly went wrong in the first minute of the second period.
The Kazakh, for whom it was the ninth knockout, shifted into second gear and unleashed an attack that shook the 27-year-old contender.
Butler, who said he didn’t mind that Janibek was left-handed, fell victim to the champion’s weapon of choice as he opened up his cover with a powerful, perfecting left attack that led to two more fast left-handers that took him down for the first time sent time.
Shocked
The Quebecer was shaken by this gust and already seemed unstable on his feet by the referee’s count.
Janibek continued to attack while Butler’s guard stood gaping. He took the opportunity to hit him with a left uppercut that caused him to bend his knees and then fall to the left one second at a time.
The still-shaky Quebecer bravely returned ahead of Janibek, but his legs no longer followed him and he was unable to defend himself against a blood-smelling champion.
Janibek finished off his opponent in the same way, with a powerful left footed shot, and Butler fell into the cables. It was done.
Perhaps the official should have stopped the fight after the second count because Butler couldn’t fight back.
In his corner we shouted at him to last the last few seconds of the lap but he couldn’t.
Disappointing
It’s a result that’s certainly disappointing for Butler, who had big ambitions ahead of this fight against Janibek.
He said he was in the best shape of his life ahead of a fight and everything indicated he could hold out.
The Quebecer lost for the second time in a world championship match. In December 2019, he lost to Ryota Murata of Japan in the WBA world title fight.
Additionally, Butler’s four losses were all by knockout.
wish fulfilled
As a crowd favourite, Janibek defended his title for the second time and now wants to expand his supremacy with a unification fight.
Defiant after the fight, he didn’t hesitate to say he wanted to settle his opponent’s score soon enough when the evening’s host asked him about his strategy.
“I wanted to clear this up very, very quickly,” he said in broken English.