Lionel Butler

Depends in which way you mean unique...?

He was someone without an amateur career that was kinda 'thrown to the wolves' in his early days. That did happen to some other guys too though, like Maskaev and McCall. Once he actually had some ring savvy under his belt he went on a good tear for a while.

If he didn't have the overeating and drug habits...well, he was a good brawler. It would need to be more than that, he'd need to have improved his boxing skills so a good trainer would've been a must, not just him kicking his habits alone.

If he'd been able to keep around the 230 mark, developed his skills, kept his focus...he could've been a consistant solid contender-level fighter I think. At his best he looked dangerous, if not a genuine champion. He just couldn't keep a handle on things.

 

I think Butler had the makings of a very good fighter personally. He had the punch, the will power and even some good offense skills. He lacked in defense however, and his chin was suspect. Additionally, he was one of these club fighters who started off with no real system of management nor quality trainers. The first time I ever saw him was on ESPN back around 1992-93, when he laid out Tony Tubbs in the first round. Butler was expected to be cake walk opponent for Tony, but ended up shocking everyone. He would then go on a streak and ended up getting himself rated for a brief period. Had he been handled properly from the start, Butler could have been a premier contender. His chin and tendency to pack on weight easily would always keep him from being among the elite however.

 

True, although I think Maskaev and McCall simply learnt and focused quicker than Butler did.
It's funny, I see what you mean in that Butler has a very 'old school' kind of record...learn on your way up, get some wins get some losses, not the same facination with the undefeated record there is in recent decades.

Butler gave Bowe a really good ding-dong for a round, before it all fell apart in the second.

 

A very small Butler boxed Riddick in one of his first pro outings, Butler got his biggest boost though like someone said by beating a capable TNT Tubbs by Ko in a stunner. He furthermore beat Bonecrusher smith and Knocked him down badly . The big test for the demonic Butler came against a re emerging Lewis (coming off his KO loss to Ollie..) Lewis former trainer Pepe Corea had become Butlers new trainer after Lewis sacked him , and McCalls old trainer became Lennox's new trainer and there were some mindgames going on. Someone that i know close to DKP HQ's told me that Lionel had been missing in action for a few days prior to the Lewis fight in Sacramento where he was said to have been partying on Coke in the hood.. Lionels habit hurt his chances in that fight so bad he even sold his original trunks and Robe for money for Cocaine... He ntered the ring 18 pounds over his weight comfort zone , and wore a denim coat with torn sleaves. after a round of eating leather , he looked for a soft place to perch his fat ass, he ignored pepes advise and never really got a decent opportunity again from King, until he appeared on the resume of Mike Grants at the Hilton looking like FREE WILLY.... He once again sagged on the ropes and drowned when the going got heated.. All the potential in the world , but the brains of a moth...... Butler never realised what he had, he had size speed a decent chin , good illusive motion and and very solid power.. wasted like most heavys , lazy and content to be a crack feind.....

 

Nice read, bigcat.

I heard that Byrd knocked him down twice and even stopped him. Anyone know how that happened?

 

Murderous puncher. Tried to emulate Tyson a bit too much at times, as have many other fighters like Kelvin Davis.

Had a hell of a run after getting himself together and getting good management.

As for being unique among post war heavyweights... Not really. Maurice Harris had a similar career.

 

Byrd stopped James Thunder as well, who had a hell of a chin.

Up until a point Byrd actually dedicated to punches and would lay into you until he stopped you.

 

That was the spotlight shot for Butler for sure. It was a Don King WBC title elimination bout & how many fighters out there are willing to even sign a contract to take on the house fighter under those conditions?

But that was the teeter-totter fight for Butler to win and his career evolves a different way with a different result. He had never been in a big pressure bout before and you never know how a guy will react to all that intensified pressure coupled with a top shelf opponent. Some guys handle it and some guys don't. Obviously, Don King thought the guy was capable of handling it & Lewis was vulnerable at the time & Butler had those top shelf whiskers in there. It was a very risky bout for both guys at the time it occurred and the winner goes on to big things and the loser drops way down the ladder.

 

Yep, and if Lewis had lost that fight then it would've been...I won't say impossible, but the odds stacked against him would've been ever larger and the Lewis-Steward partnership might've been strangled at birth.

King also had Tony Tucker handy but felt correctly that two years on Tucker wouldn't be capable of doing any better than he had 2 years previous.

So he went with Butler, someone with a puncher's reputation and even made a point of getting Pepe Correa to train him. Both things were an attempt to get a psychological edge on a fighter who'd just been knocked out. Correa in particular was full of verbal abuse...something he did when training Lewis as well, which I really don't think helped Lewis's image much.

Seconded, most definitely.

 

Boy but Lewis did clobber him though.

 

Tough guy who could pack a whallop. Haven’t seen one of his fights in years, maybe I’ll check one out on YouTube this weekend.