Former IBF bantamweight champion Paul Butler won on a unanimous 12-round points decision over Jonas Sultan to claim the WBO interim bantamweight belt at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena on Friday night.
The scores were 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112.
Butler was originally scheduled to challenge John Riel Casimero, but Casimero was forced to withdraw when he violated the British Boxing Board of Control's medical policy by using a sauna to reduce weight and could be stripped of the belt.
Butler improved his record to 36-2; 15 and Sultan’s record dropped to 18-6; 11.
UNDERCARD
Alejandro Meneses (16-5; 9) won the IBO junior welterweight belt when he stopped Sam Maxwell (16-1; 11) in the seventh round.
Meneses scored a knockdown in the fourth round before battering Maxell in the seventh round, at which point the fight was stopped. The time was 2:29.
Former WBA super middleweight champion Rocky Fielding (29-2; 17) won on a third-round technical knockout against Timo Laine (30-18; 12) in a light heavyweight contest.
Featherweight Jazza Dickens (31-4; 12) won on a fifth-round knockout over former European champion Andoni Gago (25-5-4; 7). The time was 2:52.
Olympian junior featherweight Peter McGrail (4-0; 3) won on a fourth-round knockout against Uriel Lopez Juarez (15-18-1; 7).
TANIGUCHI RETAINS WBO BELT
Southpaw Masataka Taniguchi (16-3; 11) retained the WBA strawweight belt when he stopped Kai Ishizawa (10-2; 9) in the 11th round on Friday night in Tokyo, Japan. The time was 2:29.