Lennox Lewis vs. Lionel Butler
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| Date | May 13, 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California, US | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lewis defeated Butler via 5th round technical knockout | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lennox Lewis vs. Lionel Butler was a professional boxing match contested on May 13, 1995.[1] The fight was a WBC "eliminator" bout with the winner scheduled to become the number one contender for the WBC heavyweight title.
Background
Lennox Lewis' previous fight had been a WBC heavyweight title defense against
The Lewis–Butler bout was part of a doubleheader boxing event that also included Michael Moorer, who like Lewis, had lost a heavyweight title in his previous match, dropping the WBA and IBF versions of the title to George Foreman the previous year. Initially, Moorer was set to face Tim Puller, but a broken hand forced Puller to pull out of the fight. Instead Moorer faced the then-up-and-coming prospect Melvin Foster.[5] Moorer would defeat Foster by a lopsided 10-round unanimous decision with three scores of 99–91 (nine rounds to one).
The fight
Butler came into the fight well out-of-shape at 261 pounds, 30 pounds heavier than when he had started his 16-fight knockout streak in 1991, and was dominated by Lewis for the duration of the fight. Butler started the fight aggressively, hoping to catch the much taller Lewis with his powerful right hook and score an early knockout victory, even scoring with a hard right hand in the fight's first minute. Lewis, however, would use his distinct height advantage and vastly outboxed his much shorter opponent, winning all of the first four rounds on the judge's scorecards. In the fifth round, Lewis would finally end the fight. Almost immediately after the bell rang to signify the start of the round, Lewis would send Butler to the canvas after landing a right–left combination. Butler would get up, and following a clinch break by the referee just before the first minute expired, unloaded a huge right hand that Lewis ducked. Lewis then shoved Butler down to the canvas, though it did not count as a knockdown and Lewis was warned by the referee. Lewis would spend the rest of the round picking apart the clearly exhausted Butler before sending Butler down again with a right hand just before the end of the round. After the knockdown, the referee ended the fight and Lewis was named the winner by technical knockout at 2:55 of the fifth round.[6]
Aftermath
Lewis' victory was originally supposed to make him the mandatory challenger for the WBC heavyweight title, which McCall was to defend against Frank Bruno later in the year on September 2.[7] Bruno would win the title after defeating McCall by unanimous decision, however, the WBC bumped Lewis aside and instead made the returning Mike Tyson their number one contender, giving him the first shot at Bruno. Lewis would threaten the WBC with legal action in attempt to gain the title match with Bruno, but the WBC would ultimately rule in favor of Tyson.[8]
Undercard
Confirmed bouts:[9]
| Winner | Loser | Weight division/title belt(s) disputed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
 Michael Moorer
|
Melvin Foster*
|
Heavyweight (10 rounds) | Unanimous decision. |
| Non-TV bouts | |||
| Willie Jorrín
|
 Max Maldonado
|
Featherweight (10 rounds) | 8th-round TKO. |
| Robert Allen
|
Eduardo Ayala
|
Middleweight (8 rounds) | Unanimous decision. |
| Jose Luis Noyola
|
Paulino Gonzalez
|
Featherweight (6 rounds) | Majority decision. |
 Kevin McBride
|
 Atelea Kaihea
|
Heavyweight (6 rounds) | 1st-round KO. |
- Melvin Foster was a late replacement for the injured Tim Puller
Broadcasting
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom |
Eurosport (Live) / BBC (Delayed)[10] |
| United States |
HBO |
References
- ^ "Lennox Lewis vs. Lionel Butler". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
- ^ McCall to Lewis: 'Keep Your Money', N.Y. Times article, 1994-10-07, Retrieved on 2014-02-16
- ^ Lewis to Fight Butler As Step to Title Bout, N.Y. Times article, 1995-03-09, Retrieved on 2014-02-16
- ^ The Legacy of Lennox Lewis with Emanuel Steward Archived 2014-02-28 at the Wayback Machine, Eastsideboxing.com interview with Emanuel Steward, Retrieved on 2014-02-21
- ^ Shot at Redemption For Moorer, Lewis, San Francisco Gate article, 1995-05-13, Retrieved on 2014-02-21
- ^ Lewis knocks out Butler in fifth, Boston Globe article, 1995-05-14, Retrieved on 2014-02-13
- ^ Harry Mullan (6 May 1995). "Fighters a world apart". independent.co.uk. The Independent. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
- ^ Ruling Favors Bruno-Tyson, N.Y. Times article, 1995-11-10, Retrieved on 2014-02-21
- ^ "BoxRec: Event".
- ^ "Sportsnight Special". bbc.co.uk. BBC Programme Index. 15 May 1995. Retrieved 14 February 2024.