Butler dedicates title win to trainer Peter Phelan

Nov 14 2012 by Our Correspondent, Birkenhead News

PAUL BUTLER has dedicated his British super-flyweight triumph to the work of his old amateur club.

The 23-year-old claimed the vacant Lonsdale Belt at the Olympia in Liverpool on Friday night with a first round stoppage of John Donnelly.

Victory handed Butler his first professional title after just nine paid fights but the Little Sutton man insists his former coach at Vauxhall Motors ABC deserves a lot of the credit.

Butler was a highly decorated boxer in a headguard and vest of the club - which is now known as Wirral Community Police ABC - and owes much of his success to trainer Peter Phelan.

The veteran coach joined Butler in the ring on Friday night to help his former pupil celebrate his title triumph.

And following the success of Paul 'Livewire' Lloyd during the late 1990s, Phelan and the club have now produced two British champions.

"If it was not for my amateur coach Peter Phelan then I would not have won this title," said Butler.

"Peter guided me right through my amateur career and if it had not been for him then my professional trainer (Arnie Farnell) would have had nothing to work with."

Butler expects to make the first defence of his title early in the New Year – and says Kirkby’s Mike Robinson would be a worthy challenger.

The 2010 ABA champion fired a warning shot to the rest of the division with Friday's 69 seconds blitz of Donnelly, landing a sickening body shot which forced his opponent to the canvas.

Butler admits he could not foresee such an early finish and had expected the championship fight to go at least into final few rounds.

But delighted to have ended the contest after just one minute and nine seconds, Butler is taking two weeks off before returning to the gym, from where he will begin preparing for his first fight as British champion.

“There are a few opponents out there for me and I think Mike Robinson deserves a shot,” said Butler, now 9-0 as a professional.

“He drew with Ashley Sexton last year (in Germany) and I actually think he won their first contest.

“He has been pushed to the side and maybe deserves a shot. I heard his fight with Donnelly was close.

“Before my fight with Donnelly, I sat down with my promoters and we talked about a first defence in late January or at the start of February.

“And if we could make that another local derby then that would be great. I’d sell lots of tickets again and I’m sure Mike would as well.

“The support for myself and Matty Fagan (who made his debut on the undercard) was amazing.”

Butler’s supporters were incredibly vocal before his fight and when he landed the finishing shot, they erupted with joy.

The new champion says his left hook to the body was so perfect that if the roles had been reversed and Donnelly had thrown it, he would not have beaten the count either.

“The shot felt like I hit a cushion,” said Butler.

“It felt like it hit one side of his body and came out the other.

“It was one of those shots that it doesn’t matter who it hits, they are going to go down. In the way Ricky Hatton landed one on Jose Luis Castillo.”

l Wirral Community Police ABC hold their latest club show on Friday night. The show is held at Vauxhall Sports and Social Club, Ellesmere Port and starts at 8pm.