Ellesmere Port’s Paul Butler captured the vacant British super-flyweight championship with a powerful first round demolition over Liverpool’s John Donnelly at Liverpool Olympia on Friday night. Former ABA champion Butler has made the transition from the amateur to the professional ranks with ease since turning over in 2010 and was 8-0 going into this.
Donnelly, four years older than Butler at 28, and more experienced having had almost double the amount of fights, came into this as the reigning English super-flyweight champion but had been stopped in each of his two defeats against Stuart Hall when challenging for the British bantamweight title and Gavin Reid.
Butler (8st 2) lived up to his nickname as the ‘baby faced assassin’ by requiring just 69 seconds to brush Donnelly aside to the delight of the animated crowd. A right hand knocked Donnelly (8st 2) partially off balance and a wicked left hook to the mid-section sent John grimacing to the canvas after a delayed reaction. As soon as Donnelly rolled on his side in agony it was clear that he wasn’t going to get up, leaving referee Steve Gray to complete the formalities of the ten count and hand Butler his first pro title. Butler, now 9-0 (4), looks a real handful and should provide a lot more excitement in 2013.
The Olympia undercard saw a good night’s work for the Smith brothers, Paul and Liam. Older brother Paul Smith, 30, returned from a year-long lay off following his stoppage loss to George Groves to force Ireland’s Tommy Tolan to retire on his stool at the end of the fourth of a scheduled six. Smith (12st 7) typically looked a little fleshy around the mid-section but impressed offensively, forcing Tolan (12st 3) to briefly touch down after catching him with a left hook in the opening 30 seconds.
Smith appeared to hurt Tolan every time he landed cleanly. Body shots and a short uppercut inside had the Irishman on shaky legs in round two as Smith continued to dominate. As Tolan became increasingly desperate he started to become reckless with his head which left Smith with some reddening underneath his left eye in the third. Paul maintained his composure though and hammered Tolan in round four with hooks and right hands which opened a cut above Tolan’s right eye. It was one-way traffic and Tolan wisely elected to remain on his stool instead of coming out for round five.
Smith, now 32-3 (18), impressed offensively and will seek to regain the British super-middleweight title that he lost to James DeGale by challenging current champion Kenny Anderson in the new year.
Paul’s younger sibling Liam Smith, 24, also triumphed by winning his British light-middleweight title eliminator against Scotland’s Gary McMillan with a solid if unspectacular ten round points victory. Smith, now unbeaten in 13 (with one draw against Terry Carruthers), outworked taller southpaw McMillan in every round who was deducted a point by official Howard Foster for holding in round three. McMillan’s successes were rare, aside from a good left cross which nailed Smith at the end of round four which Liam shook off the effects from and kept on coming. The unbeaten Smith is now in the queue to meet the winner of next month’s British light-middleweight title fight between reigning champion Brian Rose and former holder Sam Webb.
Former junior ABA champion Matty Fagan won his pro debut but was guilty of letting the occasion get to him by getting caught far too often by Francis Maina (now 1-3-1) in their light-welterweight scrap over four-three’s. The well-supported Fagan, 24, was far too eager to please his passionate following and was nailed on several occasions by right hands in the opening round which rocked his head back. Fagan, who is trained by ex-pro Anthony Farnell, settled down slightly after a bumpy first round and started to bring his jab into play in round two to set up some right hands of his own.
Over eagerness got the better of Fagan once more in round three. He lost his footing following a tangling of legs after launching an over zealous attack, and more of the same later in round saw the Ellesmere Port man spin himself around 360 degrees. In keeping with the spirit of the contest, the fourth and final round was keenly fought but it was Fagan who landed the cleaner shots to open up a cut to Maina’s left eye which secured him a 40-37 points victory from referee Alvin Finch.
