Steven “Bang Bang” Butler's comeback spoiled by underdog José de Jesús Macias

Macias KOs Butler for NABF title

Mexican José de Jesús Macias (27-10-3, 13 KOs) defeated Steven “Bang Bang” Butler (28-3-1, 24 KOs) by knockout in the fifth round, on January 28, to conquer the NABF middleweight title, endorsed by the World Boxing Council, in Cuernavaca, Morleos, Mexico.

The event marked the return of Canadian Steven Butler, 25 from Montreal, after his loss to WBA world middleweight champion Ryota Murata (16-2 2-0, 13 KOs) in December 2019.

World title contender Butler was caught by surprise in the fifth round by Macias, who managed to finish the job in his first ever title fight with a powerful left hook moments later.

The Montreal man got up in a bad condition, so Referee César Castañón stopped the fight at 27 seconds into the fifth stanza of a scheduled 10.

In his 41st bout and 10th year as a pro, the Mexican, known as 'El Changuito', collected the NABF middleweight title, a belt previously held by Thomas Hearns, as well as the NABA and WBC Francophone titles.

In the same event, highly-rated Kazakh Sadriddin Akhmedov (12-0, 10 KOs) defeated Dutchman Stephen Danyo (17-4-3, 6 KOs) via unanimous decision to relieve him of his WBA Continental title and also collected the vacant NABF  and WBC Francophone super welterweight championships.

Canadian national amateur champion Christopher Guerrero (1-0) won his pro debut on points against Mexican Armando Morales Gutierrez (1-2, 1KO) over four-rounds at the super-welterweight limit.

HÖRFA are proud sponsors of Global Boxing News