Lionel Butler when he fought Lewis

I agree, Butler was a genuine rated contender.

He was crude as hell and about 40 pounds overweight against Lewis. A powerful man though.

 

Was he ranked in the ring rankings, though? I can't remember that, but i'd be interested to find out.

 

He was a contender. He just wasn't a very good contender. He's one of those guys you look at on a list of ranked contenders and say, "Yeeaaaahhh..."

Butler had registered 16 straight wins with 15 knockouts going into the Lewis fight, but only nine of the opponents had winning records, and of those, a couple were of the 4-3, 9-7 variety. The only "name" opponents he beat were Bonecrusher Smith, who was over 40 years old and washed up, and Tubbs, who was 34 and hadn't posted a noteworthy win in about three years. This is still a nice winning streak, but it hardly makes you a serious contender. Not to mention Butler was about 25 pounds above his usual weight, at which he was already fat, when he fought Lewis. He was a short, fat, crude brawler, a decent gatekeeper type, but not someone you'd really look at as a "major" win.

 

I'd be interested to find out too.
I suspect he was.
Contrary to recent revisionism, the mid-'90s weren't exactly packed with high perfoirmance heavyweights.
Butler probably creeps in a genuine top 10, or THE RING'S version of one.

I cant remember a fighter coming in so fat for such a big chance fight though (oh, maybe Page, Tubbs, Kirk Johnson) . As Marciano_Frazier mentioned, Butler was already fat at his normal weight, and he came with an EXTRA 20 or 30 pounds. He made Tony Galento look like a health guru.
Unbelievable waste of opportunity.

 

They weren't? News to me

 

He was ranked tenth in 1994.

But I'm still not convinced he's the world beating monster you're making him out to be.

 

World EATING monster maybe.

 

Butler was slipping even then. It was thought he was back on the drugs and that had he had nit trained properly. But that said Lewis was still a little tenative after McCall and gave Butler a ton of repsect.

 

Well, i'd say he's at least more deserving than someone whose record the year before was 3-2-2 including losses to lightheavyweights. Oh wait, Butler didn't receive a title shot.

 

I don't have a clue if Butler was ranked by The Ring...I wouldn't mind knowing. The WBC must've had him near the top, to stick him against Lewis in that May '95 eliminator. A string of knockouts are always a big boost to your profile, quality not as important, and that still continues today.

Butler was heavy, slow and had a bad drugs problem. On the other hand, he was a big puncher with both left and right, with good hand speed and (Don King hoped) a psychological advantage with Pepe Correa in his corner.

There were certainly more than a few people that felt that Lewis "shouldn't even think of" fighting Butler at the time...just as sadly continues today, certain quarters felt that all you needed was a big punch and Lewis would collapse.

When Lewis clocked in at 248 on the scales, there was quite a bit of clucking about that as well, thinking Lewis had undertrained and gone to fat...

 

I remember watching the Lewis-Butler fight when it first aired on HBO. This was not the same Lionel Butler who was a sevelt 226 when he ko'd Tony Tubbs in 1. This version of Butler was a big fat coked up pig. Lewis was very fortunate to get this version of Butler. Same with Tua, he was a sumo 245 when Lewis got to him. A far cry from the Tua who at 225 annilated Ruiz in 1.

Lewis should count his blessings he wasn't fighting peak versions of these guys as they certainly possessed the mobility along with the power to level Lewis.

One other thing...I can't understand those who believe Lewis would beat Larry Holmes or had better comp then Larry. Holmes opponents came into the ring in tip top shape and most were undefeated and hungry. Not Lewis opponent hungry! :rofl

 

I dont understand why these guys waste their opportunities.

They just turned up for the payday. Put no work in whatsoever.

Of Lewis's opponents, Ray Mercer was probably the worst because he came in out of shape and almost won ! He didn't deserve to win, he clearly hadn't trained, was huffing and puffing after a few rounds. Fat waster.

No reason to believe Tua or Butler would have beaten Lewis if they had come in shape. But they should have made the effort ! They should have maximized their chances.

 

I don't know that much about Lionel Butler but he sounds like someone who could have possibly had a better career if he had taken himself more seriously as you say. With his knockout capabilities a fit Butler sounds like he might have been a formidable of an opponent as Oliver McCall was against Lewis.

 

And the 80's heavyweights were in shape, you mean? They were talented as hell, but nearly all of them threw it away because of coke/lose of focus.