[Boxing] Naoya Inoue vs Paul Butler - Undisputed Bantamweight Bout - December 13

[Smartprofit]

I don't think Butler's skill should be underestimated.  Yes, in the upcoming battle, he is potentially very much inferior to the Japanese.  

However, Butler is an experienced and strong fighter.  If he does not lose personal courage and fights with all his strength, then he has a chance to win.  Butler is very unpredictable.  It is not for nothing that this boxer is called the Killer, who has a childish face.  He can outsmart the Japanese.  

If the Japanese boxer relaxes, then Butler can launch a surprise attack that will lead to a technical knockout.  Such an option now seems completely unbelievable, but it is possible.

In this case we know that Butler's quality is very good but the problem is Inoue is one of those fast boxers and he can hold a punch.

Relax? he is not that typical because of the aggressiveness and speed he always displays in every fight and maybe we can see one of his last fights against Donaire a few months ago.
On the other hand Butler must be wary of Inoue's left hand in this match because he is a monster especially when his left hand punch is really strong.

Yes, I agree with you, it will be very difficult for Butler to win.  The Japanese are a very disciplined nation.  

To understand this, it is enough to read the code of honor of the Japanese samurai, which is called bushido.  It was discipline and self-control that allowed modern Japanese to achieve great success in the development of modern electronic technologies.  The Japanese are very attentive and focused.

Inoue is no exception.  And for sure he will try to show himself in this fight as best as possible.  

However, it also has its weaknesses and shortcomings.  

And the English boxer needs to make every effort to win this boxing match.

[lionheart78]

Even if Donaire is in his prime, I think Inoue can still beat him, but maybe not as easy as he beat in their rematch. Well, for sure Donaire is going to retire soon while Inoue is a rising superstar, so we still have a lot of fights to expect from the monster. If he decides to move up, then it will only make his career more exciting as he will face bigger challenges in heavier division.

It is hard to speculate since Donaire is way faster in his prime.  But let us leave things as it is, Donaire and Inoue are both great fighters and it is a good thing for us boxing fans that another great fighter comes up as the older great fighter is about to retire.

I don't think Butler's skill should be underestimated.  Yes, in the upcoming battle, he is potentially very much inferior to the Japanese. 

However, Butler is an experienced and strong fighter.  If he does not lose personal courage and fights with all his strength, then he has a chance to win.  Butler is very unpredictable.  It is not for nothing that this boxer is called the Killer, who has a childish face.  He can outsmart the Japanese. 

If the Japanese boxer relaxes, then Butler can launch a surprise attack that will lead to a technical knockout.  Such an option now seems completely unbelievable, but it is possible.

Sure lapses on boxers while in a fight happen but I do not think it will happen on Inoue.  As far as I see, Inoue is a well-disciplined boxer.  Lapses only happen on boxer that is too cocky and Inoue isn't one of them.

I'm pretty sure that Butler is already aware on how good Inoue is, so for sure, he is already preparing how to be effective in the fight night. Inoue is the best, but he has a weakness as well, and that's what Butler's camp has to find out so they can play the right strategy.

True, so it interests me what kind of strategy Butler will implement since I cannot find any gap in Inoue's ability that Butler can take advantage of.  It is also quite slim for Butler to score a knockout since Inoue can really take heavy punches and we have seen it on his previous fights against heavy hitter like Donaire and Moloney.

[Cryptmuster]

I don't think Butler's skill should be underestimated.  Yes, in the upcoming battle, he is potentially very much inferior to the Japanese. 

However, Butler is an experienced and strong fighter.  If he does not lose personal courage and fights with all his strength, then he has a chance to win.  Butler is very unpredictable.  It is not for nothing that this boxer is called the Killer, who has a childish face.  He can outsmart the Japanese. 

If the Japanese boxer relaxes, then Butler can launch a surprise attack that will lead to a technical knockout.  Such an option now seems completely unbelievable, but it is possible.

Inoue is not one of those fighters who allow himself to relax in the ring, his advantage in this fight looks very clear, he has a very strong punch and he surpasses Butler in speed. Butler says that he is not afraid of Inoue, moreover, he is confident in his victory. It is clear what is the point of entering the ring if you are not confident in yourself, but also need to be objective, Inoue is the clear favorite in this fight.

[Smartprofit]

Yes, Butler now faces a very difficult task.  Perhaps his only chance is to outsmart the Japanese boxer.  

He may pretend to be weakened and incapable of active resistance.  And then inflict an unexpected blow to the Japanese on the head.  Maybe this trick will work.  Butler's main problem is that his opponent is younger and faster. Of course, Butler himself will get tired much earlier than his opponent.

Also, he cannot count on his strength, because the Japanese is also very strong.  

Therefore, only cunning can bring victory.  Some clever professional trick.  

Well, we know that in any boxing match there can be an unexpected denouement.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

I don't think Butler's skill should be underestimated.  Yes, in the upcoming battle, he is potentially very much inferior to the Japanese. 

However, Butler is an experienced and strong fighter.  If he does not lose personal courage and fights with all his strength, then he has a chance to win.  Butler is very unpredictable.  It is not for nothing that this boxer is called the Killer, who has a childish face.  He can outsmart the Japanese. 

If the Japanese boxer relaxes, then Butler can launch a surprise attack that will lead to a technical knockout.  Such an option now seems completely unbelievable, but it is possible.

Inoue is not one of those fighters who allow himself to relax in the ring, his advantage in this fight looks very clear, he has a very strong punch and he surpasses Butler in speed. Butler says that he is not afraid of Inoue, moreover, he is confident in his victory. It is clear what is the point of entering the ring if you are not confident in yourself, but also need to be objective, Inoue is the clear favorite in this fight.

Maybe early in his career, he relaxes, that's why he gets the knock out much earlier. But after that, he not only learn to pace himself, but can knockout guys in less than 6 rounds, just like what he did against Nonito Donaire.

So his confident is very high and we think that a victory for him is imminent, its just what rounds will Butler go. Or if Butler can survived, what will be his strategy. He can't brawl against a brawler, or take a body shots from Inoue. So he is in a dilemma and only that when we see his strategy on the day of the fight itself.

[Yamifoud]

I don't think Butler's skill should be underestimated.  Yes, in the upcoming battle, he is potentially very much inferior to the Japanese. 

However, Butler is an experienced and strong fighter.  If he does not lose personal courage and fights with all his strength, then he has a chance to win.  Butler is very unpredictable.  It is not for nothing that this boxer is called the Killer, who has a childish face.  He can outsmart the Japanese. 

If the Japanese boxer relaxes, then Butler can launch a surprise attack that will lead to a technical knockout.  Such an option now seems completely unbelievable, but it is possible.

Inoue is not one of those fighters who allow himself to relax in the ring, his advantage in this fight looks very clear, he has a very strong punch and he surpasses Butler in speed. Butler says that he is not afraid of Inoue, moreover, he is confident in his victory. It is clear what is the point of entering the ring if you are not confident in yourself, but also need to be objective, Inoue is the clear favorite in this fight.

Maybe early in his career, he relaxes, that's why he gets the knock out much earlier. But after that, he not only learn to pace himself, but can knockout guys in less than 6 rounds, just like what he did against Nonito Donaire.

So his confident is very high and we think that a victory for him is imminent, its just what rounds will Butler go. Or if Butler can survived, what will be his strategy. He can't brawl against a brawler, or take a body shots from Inoue. So he is in a dilemma and only that when we see his strategy on the day of the fight itself.

Every boxer can improve, and what we see on Inoue is that he is a special fighter, he has the skills and the gift because he is a heavy hitter, and that's something not all boxers have. A style of Mayweather can beat Inoue, but Butler does not have the same style, so he is expected to lose.

[Jawhead999]

Every boxer can improve, and what we see on Inoue is that he is a special fighter, he has the skills and the gift because he is a heavy hitter, and that's something not all boxers have. A style of Mayweather can beat Inoue, but Butler does not have the same style, so he is expected to lose.

If both Mayweather and Inoue are on the same generation, I think Inoue might beat Mayweather since he's not actually a heavy hitter, but he can punch multiple times in short. Mayweather also doesn't have an iron chin, he ever fallen down and Inoue is a KO artist here. But we're just talking a thing that impossible to happen lol.

Well the fight is still around 3 months, not sure what Butler and his coach doing until the fight happen. I know Butler will going very hard and strict training, but I think it still doesn't enough.

[Baofeng]

So in preparation for this fight, Inoue taps Filipino Arthur Villanueva as his main sparring partner,

Edri Aznar
Sun, 25 September 2022, 7:10 pm·2 min read

JAPANESE superstar Naoya Inoue taps the services of former world title challenger Arthur Villanueva as one of his main sparring partners for his upcoming unification bout with Paul Butler in December.

The 33-year-old Villanueva will join Inoue’s camp in Japan on Oct. 5 and will be training with the No. 2 pound-for-pound king for a month.

https://ph.news.yahoo.com/inoue-taps-villanueva-sparring-partner-111000488.html

I'm not surprised though, he is known or at least his camp wants Filipino as his sparring partner because they know that Pinoys are very tough. And this might sound strange, but Japanese and Filipino boxer promoters are very close that they are willing to lend each other fighters if they needed them.

[Jody.Drummer]

I'm pretty sure that Butler is already aware on how good Inoue is, so for sure, he is already preparing how to be effective in the fight night. Inoue is the best, but he has a weakness as well, and that's what Butler's camp has to find out so they can play the right strategy.

When it comes to weaknesses, surely all have weaknesses. It's just that some can cover their weaknesses, some can't. I'm also sure that each of them must have learned which points are their opponent's weaknesses.
But this is a boxing match, sometimes they forget what their opponent's weaknesses are, or they can even provide opportunities for their opponents because they focus on their opponent's weaknesses. They have to focus on the match if they don't want to be dominated by other fighters.

[carlisle1]

Yes, Butler now faces a very difficult task.  Perhaps his only chance is to outsmart the Japanese boxer.  

He may pretend to be weakened and incapable of active resistance.  And then inflict an unexpected blow to the Japanese on the head.  Maybe this trick will work.  Butler's main problem is that his opponent is younger and faster. Of course, Butler himself will get tired much earlier than his opponent.

Also, he cannot count on his strength, because the Japanese is also very strong.  

Therefore, only cunning can bring victory.  Some clever professional trick.  

Well, we know that in any boxing match there can be an unexpected denouement.

Unexpected outcome if he will be lucky to convert a KO punch to Inoue, that will be his chance to win,
In terms of all the skills and capabilities by book, it will guarantee that Inoue has a higher hand here.

But we never know what the strategy of Butler will be and how he will deliver his chance to win.

Maybe the chance is slim and basing it with the past fights, we can see the big advantage of Inoue,
prime Inoue with speed and skills, plus the capabilities of strong KO punch.

[stadus]

So I don't think that Butler can go the whole 12 rounds. It will really be a punishment and maybe his team will throw in the towel because they don't want Paul to get ruin by so much punches he will get from Inoue if ever it will go to the distance and they will still lost in the judges card.

His team might not get even a chance to throw that towel because Inoue is so quick that they will not know when is the right time to throw that towel to stop the fight. The moment they will throw the towel, Butler might already kiss the floor.

No disgrace to Butler or to any fans here that we are throwing speculations like that. It's just that, that's the close thing to happen. Yes, Inoue is also a human and they have the same weight as Butler but the former's built is really something that no one in Bantamweight can match against him.

That only shows that Butler is just too far from Inoue's current prowess, we cannot be throwing some low speculations to his end if we don't know the real score between. That is just sad for Butler and I bet that even him knew and cannot deny that he can't really keep up with Inoue, even Donaire can't keep up, so it is quite safe to assume that Butler won't be fighting for long with Inoue in the same ring.

I agree about that! Butler is nowhere near Inoue's league, I know somebody might argue with me on this especially Butler's fans but that is the truth and I definitely think that majority here would agree with me. Butler's only chance to get out from the fight safe is to get his camp throw in the towel at the end of their selected round, he might get criticized for playing safe but there is no other choice.

What happens is that when a boxer fights it safe, it is something that cannot be applied all the time because that steals a lot of attention and the people and the fans do not like it, more so if they make it all a fight attached only to the technical, because if that is the case, it is better that they do not do it because it would be very boring, if Inoue fights very, very defensively and Butler too (I hope not) it will be a fight that will bring disappointment, but in my personal opinion, I think Butler leaves iur with everything towards Inoue, that's what I think, he won't leave anything up in the air, and he's not going to leave like a loser who didn't want to give everything out of fear, that's the worst thing that could happen to a bnoxer, from my point of view I consider it a great failure.

Unfortunately, Butler is already expected to do that because he is a golden cow of the the Probellum, we might be wrong about this speculation but the chances is just too low to even consider that Butler would try and defeat Inoue. He probably knows that he doesn't have what it takes to defeat the monster. He might be criticized for that but I think he would prefer his health first rather than getting bullied in the ring.

[Ziskinberg]

Even if Donaire is in his prime, I think Inoue can still beat him, but maybe not as easy as he beat in their rematch. Well, for sure Donaire is going to retire soon while Inoue is a rising superstar, so we still have a lot of fights to expect from the monster. If he decides to move up, then it will only make his career more exciting as he will face bigger challenges in heavier division.

It is hard to speculate since Donaire is way faster in his prime.  But let us leave things as it is, Donaire and Inoue are both great fighters and it is a good thing for us boxing fans that another great fighter comes up as the older great fighter is about to retire.

Just like the way you said it, we can't really know for sure because their timeline is different. We can only speculate but the outcome might be different but if only these two are both born in the same year and have fought in the height of their prime, I'm very sure that we will witness an epic fight for undisputed champion in the bantamweight division.

And for Inoue and Butler, the latter is quite older than Inoue but at the age of 33, Butler is still on his prime year but the fact is that his power won't really suffice when it comes to defeating the monster, Naoya Inoue.

[serjent05]

So in preparation for this fight, Inoue taps Filipino Arthur Villanueva as his main sparring partner,

Edri Aznar
Sun, 25 September 2022, 7:10 pm·2 min read

JAPANESE superstar Naoya Inoue taps the services of former world title challenger Arthur Villanueva as one of his main sparring partners for his upcoming unification bout with Paul Butler in December.

The 33-year-old Villanueva will join Inoue’s camp in Japan on Oct. 5 and will be training with the No. 2 pound-for-pound king for a month.

https://ph.news.yahoo.com/inoue-taps-villanueva-sparring-partner-111000488.html

I'm not surprised though, he is known or at least his camp wants Filipino as his sparring partner because they know that Pinoys are very tough. And this might sound strange, but Japanese and Filipino boxer promoters are very close that they are willing to lend each other fighters if they needed them.

Arthur Villanueva is among the few Filipinos that is a technical fighter.  So it makes sense that Inoue wants him to be a sparring partner.  More likely Villanueva as I remember boxing style is fighting from the outside which is aligned with Butlers fighting style. 

Unfortunately, Butler is already expected to do that because he is a golden cow of the the Probellum, we might be wrong about this speculation but the chances is just too low to even consider that Butler would try and defeat Inoue. He probably knows that he doesn't have what it takes to defeat the monster. He might be criticized for that but I think he would prefer his health first rather than getting bullied in the ring.

I think Butler will test the waters in the early round.  Checking if he can absorb Inoue's punches without a problem.  If he feels that he cannot take Inoue's punches then we can see Butler capitalizing on the area of the ring.  He will just box around and will try to avoid direct comfrontation.


Something just came across my mind, after all this discussion of Inoue being almost invincible in his upcoming fight, an upset thing happens and Paul Butler wins (which is almost impossible), I wonder what would be the flow of discussion here.

[harizen]

I don't think Butler's skill should be underestimated.  Yes, in the upcoming battle, he is potentially very much inferior to the Japanese. 

However, Butler is an experienced and strong fighter.  If he does not lose personal courage and fights with all his strength, then he has a chance to win.  Butler is very unpredictable.  It is not for nothing that this boxer is called the Killer, who has a childish face.  He can outsmart the Japanese. 

If the Japanese boxer relaxes, then Butler can launch a surprise attack that will lead to a technical knockout.  Such an option now seems completely unbelievable, but it is possible.

I understand your point there. However, we can't really hide the fact that Butler doesn't have any advantage in this fight. I don't know on what part you consider Butler's experience as an advantage over Inoue. You also called him a strong fighter. And lastly, he is very unpredictable. Might be true if it's against other opponents but we are talking about against Naoya Inoue here.

Didn't you know that all those traits you mentioned were already in Naoya Inoue even before? And there are lots.

That was the reason he was called "The Monster".

[agustina2]

And the English boxer needs to make every effort to win this boxing match.

There's no kind of effort that Butler can show to somehow defeat the Naoya Inoue. While he is doing efforts, the Japanese is also known for not taking easy on their opponents even though they are considered the heavy underdog. Inoue is always serious no matter if his opponent can't able to match him clearly.

Sorry to say that there's no analysis that we can put on Butler on how he can defeat Naoya Inoue. The winner of that match is already clear from the start.

[Oasisman]

The only thing to survive in my opinion is not to dare to deal with toe-to-toe confrontations. I mean not to let
Inoue to box him and allow exchanges of punches.

If Butler will avoid that scenario, he will not win. If surviving is the only goal, what's the purpose of the fight?

He should just take the risks since this is the biggest fight of his career. Regardless of how long their distant, he should just try.

It's fine to see him losing if he tries to fight toe-to-toe with Inoue instead of just avoiding the Monster all the time just to survive. Much better for Butler fans to remember him that way.

I think this is the approach that Butler must follow, if he tries to run away and avoid a direct confrontation with Inoue not only he will not win the fight but his fans will be incredibly disappointed of him, instead if he decides to fight Inoue with everything that he has he may still lose but at least everyone will see on him a fighter which was not afraid of the challenge in front of him, and on his next fights he will still be able to generate some interest on him due to his performance.

I don't think Butler's skill should be underestimated.  Yes, in the upcoming battle, he is potentially very much inferior to the Japanese. 

However, Butler is an experienced and strong fighter.  If he does not lose personal courage and fights with all his strength, then he has a chance to win.  Butler is very unpredictable.  It is not for nothing that this boxer is called the Killer, who has a childish face.  He can outsmart the Japanese. 

If the Japanese boxer relaxes, then Butler can launch a surprise attack that will lead to a technical knockout.  Such an option now seems completely unbelievable, but it is possible.

I have not seen Inoue relaxes against his opponent. The guy seems pretty focused each and everytime he's fighting, especially that he has a high IQ and doesn't take anyone lightly.
Base on their each respective fights, it seems that Butler must double or triple his effort in training, strengthen those chin and increase those stamina. Otherwise Inoue will make the ring so small for him to just slip away and might end up in a head or body K.O.

[Jating]

I don't think Butler's skill should be underestimated.  Yes, in the upcoming battle, he is potentially very much inferior to the Japanese. 

However, Butler is an experienced and strong fighter.  If he does not lose personal courage and fights with all his strength, then he has a chance to win.  Butler is very unpredictable.  It is not for nothing that this boxer is called the Killer, who has a childish face.  He can outsmart the Japanese. 

If the Japanese boxer relaxes, then Butler can launch a surprise attack that will lead to a technical knockout.  Such an option now seems completely unbelievable, but it is possible.

I understand your point there. However, we can't really hide the fact that Butler doesn't have any advantage in this fight. I don't know on what part you consider Butler's experience as an advantage over Inoue. You also called him a strong fighter. And lastly, he is very unpredictable. Might be true if it's against other opponents but we are talking about against Naoya Inoue here.

Didn't you know that all those traits you mentioned were already in Naoya Inoue even before? And there are lots.

That was the reason he was called "The Monster".

I don't think he is also predictable, and his chin is suspect already, Zolani Tete floored Butler in their fight and I think Inoue as this point is the hardest puncher in the bantamweight division.

Yes, he has the experience, but how can he take that against Inoue is the question. Is he going to be aggressive and control the fight, what if he taste Inoue's power?

So again, we are not saying that Butler is not good, of course he is a champion, but Inoue has more tools in his arsenal that is hard to counter by a boxer with Butler's caliber (and experience if we think this is a advantage).

[lienfaye]

Sorry to say that there's no analysis that we can put on Butler on how he can defeat Naoya Inoue. The winner of that match is already clear from the start.

I agree. Moreover one of the boxer who defeated Butler (Emmanuel Rodriguez) before already loss to Inoue by knocked out. If we analyze the situation, the chance of Butler to win in this fight is really low, unless if he come up with an effective strategy for his advantage.

He really need to give his best in order to win otherwise he will become another victim of Inoue who's the massive favorite here no doubt.

[Cryptmuster]

Maybe early in his career, he relaxes, that's why he gets the knock out much earlier. But after that, he not only learn to pace himself, but can knockout guys in less than 6 rounds, just like what he did against Nonito Donaire.

So his confident is very high and we think that a victory for him is imminent, its just what rounds will Butler go. Or if Butler can survived, what will be his strategy. He can't brawl against a brawler, or take a body shots from Inoue. So he is in a dilemma and only that when we see his strategy on the day of the fight itself.

I don't know what strategy he can have, if he just will not keep up for Inoue's quick punches. I heard a lot of talk from Joshua before the Usyk fight about the strategy that will allow him to win, but there was nothing new in the ring. In this fight, Butler understands that this is his chance and he will do everything possible and say what he needs to show his confidence, but the ring will show who is stronger.

[Distinctin]

Maybe early in his career, he relaxes, that's why he gets the knock out much earlier. But after that, he not only learn to pace himself, but can knockout guys in less than 6 rounds, just like what he did against Nonito Donaire.

So his confident is very high and we think that a victory for him is imminent, its just what rounds will Butler go. Or if Butler can survived, what will be his strategy. He can't brawl against a brawler, or take a body shots from Inoue. So he is in a dilemma and only that when we see his strategy on the day of the fight itself.

I don't know what strategy he can have, if he just will not keep up for Inoue's quick punches. I heard a lot of talk from Joshua before the Usyk fight about the strategy that will allow him to win, but there was nothing new in the ring. In this fight, Butler understands that this is his chance and he will do everything possible and say what he needs to show his confidence, but the ring will show who is stronger.

Nah, this is different because Joshua was the favorite to win the fight during their first meeting, but this fight, we see an obvious heavy favorite that has not been defeated in his entire career, so it's not surprising that fans believe Inoue will win this easily.