Paul Butler show reaches another defining act as he bids to become three-time world champion

Paul Butler has been around the world – and now he is heading home in a bid to become a three-weight world champion.

Butler has fought in places like Japan and Uzbekistan, but on Saturday night, he goes back to the place where it all started and the place that he has always called home.

Challenging for the IBO world bantamweight title, Butler will take on Norbelto Jimenez at Ellesmere Port Sports Village. And the 35-year-old, who has beaten both Jeison Cervantes and Nabil Ahmed since being stopped by Naoya Inoue, is relishing his homecoming.

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“It is surreal, I haven’t boxed here for 14 years,” he recalls to the ECHO when asked about the location of his fight.

“I had my last ever amatuer fight here. I won the ABAs, and then we had our home show about three weeks later, and I said I wanted to box on that before turning professional.

“It was always the plan to become a professional if I won the ABAs, and I was very lucky that we had an amatuer show on our doorstep, but here we are 14 years later with a little homecoming.”

Asked how the venue came about, Butler explains: “Joe [Gallagher] won the purse bids, and then he asked me if there was anywhere close to me that could hold a decent number of fans.

“I found out that they had had two previous boxing shows here, and then we had a few little meetings with the Sports Village, and now we are a week away.

“It is nice to actually be in my home time and thank the fans because they have travelled for years and years to watch me. It is nice to get home and fight in front of them.”

The huge Liverpool supporter is a man who loves to give back, so much so that he speaks to the ECHO not long after returning home from Birmingham for the quarter-finals of the National ABA Championships.

As a coach at Wirral CP Boxing, he has just helped guide three youngsters into next weekend’s semi-finals. But it is a bittersweet moment for Butler, who will miss the next round of action as it clashes with his bout against Jimenez.

Nevertheless, he is delighted that those who he gets to coach and those who have travelled the world supporting him will get the chance to watch him in action on their doorstep.

He said: “It is literally on their doorstep; they don’t have to travel to the likes of London, Newcastle, or even the M&S Bank Arena. It is nice for them to just literally walk out of the door and then head up the road.

“We had three in the championships today [Sunday], and they all won, and they are all in the semi-finals of the nationals the day I box.

“A part of me is gutted; I can’t be there, but the other half of me is made up that I am boxing for a world title on the same night.”

Fights at Woodhouse Park Lifestyle Centre, Knowsley Leisure & Culture Park, Production Park Studios and the Bolton Whites Hotel all followed after his defeat to Emmanuel Rodriguez back in 2018.

Butler admits that had it not been for Joe Gallagher, the man who is not only responsible for training him but also managing him, he probably would have walked away from the sport many years ago.

“Everything I have done since I have been with Joe, I have got Joe to thank for. If it wasn’t for Joe, I would have retired years ago,” he admits.

“The opportunities he has got me and all he has done for me. He has managed me for a long time now, as well as training me.

“He has constantly banged on doors, getting me shots and getting me pathways. Sometimes I have had to take a small hall show before going on to a bigger fighter.

“Some kids wouldn’t do that because they let their ego get in the way. You always get the same Paul Butler, whether it be in front of 2,000 people or 20,000 people.”