PAUL BUTLER is determined to carve out a piece of history when he fights Zolani Tete on March 6. If he defeats the IBF super-flyweight champion Butler will become the first Briton in 104 years to win a second world title in a lighter weight division.
Paul has had to wait longer for this fight than expected after Tete broke his hand and couldn’t make the original date in October. That postponement has only fueled Butler’s determination. “I canโt wait to get in there now. It seems like one big, long camp. Obviously I boxed but my mind was still set on Tete then [in October]. As itโs getting closer and closer, I canโt wait to set eyes on him for the first time. Iโve got so much frustration but [I need to] not to let it out in such a wild way that I go in all guns blazing. Itโll be some controlled pressure. I canโt wait to get in there now. Itโs been a long, long camp just to finally get my hands on Zolani Tete.”
He has been diligently preparing for the South African’s style. “Iโve had a lot more sparring for that than normal, because of the southpaw stance and how tall he is. Weโve had a lot more sparring. When I first got matched with him and I was sparring southpaws it looked a bit awkward as I was trying to deal with them. Because Iโve got more and more of them [for sparring] itโs basically just like Iโm boxing an orthodox. I just get in the ring and it all comes naturally, slipping to the left and throwing the backhand, itโs like an orthodox to me now,” Paul said. “Itโs natural to me now.”
“As an amateur I boxed so many southpaws,” he continued. “I hadnโt boxed one for four years because Iโve been a pro and I havenโt boxed one. So it was just getting used to the southpaw stance again and getting my foot on the outside and manoeuvring them into the ways that I wanted to move them and not letting them settle. Hopefully weโre putting all that into practice now and hopefully it works.”
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