Bazinyan Stops Butler In Tenth Round On Montreal Return

Erik Bazinyan has ended a 26-month absence from the ring by stopping Steven Butler 22 seconds into the tenth and final round at the Casino de Montréal. The comeback has revived one career and left uncomfortable questions hanging over another. Butler rose from a knockdown, but referee Padulo halted proceedings, bringing a decisive conclusion to a contest in which Bazinyan’s cleaner boxing and sustained pressure had steadily reduced his fellow Quebec fighter’s resistance.

There was considerable local interest in this meeting between Eye of the Tiger stablemates. The venue was sold out for a programme headed by Jhon Orobio against Hendri Cedeno, but Butler and Bazinyan carried concerns beyond the usual question of who would win. Both were returning from stoppage defeats. Both needed evidence that worthwhile business remained ahead. Bazinyan provided his answer with his punches. Butler’s future now requires a discussion considerably more serious than another matchmaking meeting.

The super middleweights had finally reached the ring after three cancellations during 2025. Injuries had repeatedly disrupted Bazinyan’s preparations, and his promoter had suspended him. Camille Estephan explained before the fight that Bazinyan’s weight between contests had contributed to the problems, although he believed the suspension had prompted a change in approach. Originally presented as a route towards international opportunities, this meeting had acquired the harsher appearance of a test of professional survival.

Bazinyan had not boxed since Jaime Munguia stopped him in the tenth round in September 2024. He had also gone nearly 34 months without winning. Butler’s interruption was shorter, but his July defeat by Edgar Berlanga had already prompted Estephan to suggest retirement. Butler wanted to continue. His recent wins over Jose de Jesus Macias, Stephane Fondjo and Ramadan Hiseni, followed by his knockdown of Berlanga in a losing effort, gave him reasons to believe his punching could still change a fight.

At the weigh-in, Butler registered 167.4 pounds and Bazinyan 166.2. Once the contest began, the distinction that mattered was accuracy. Bazinyan established the more effective work, countering Butler’s attempts to land power punches and preventing his opponent from turning aggression into sustained control. His jab was sharp and his defence effective. Butler remained determined, but determination was having to cover an increasingly large share of the job.

The scorecards provide a useful correction to any suggestion that Butler contributed nothing. All three judges awarded him the third round after giving Bazinyan the opening two. Bazinyan nevertheless reasserted himself in the fourth, working downstairs, and the fifth produced a much more damaging warning. A right hand hurt Butler late in the round. He held on and reached the bell, but Bazinyan had begun to move beyond winning exchanges and into visibly weakening his opponent.

Butler endured further punishment through the middle rounds. His power was being answered, and his opportunities were shrinking as Bazinyan maintained control. The seventh brought him a measure of encouragement on one judge’s card, but the other two again favoured Bazinyan. By the closing stages, the scoring reflected a clear separation. The man returning from the much longer absence was carrying the fight more effectively.

The decisive damage arrived around the bell ending the ninth. A left hand sent Butler down, although the fall was not counted as a knockdown. Whatever its treatment on the cards, its physical effect was evident when Butler emerged for the last round. The interval had not restored him. Bazinyan landed a right almost immediately and followed with a succession of punches which forced Butler to one knee. He beat the count, but the referee decided that another exchange would serve no useful purpose.

Bazinyan had been ahead by 88 points to 83, and by 89 points to 82 on the other two cards. The stoppage improved his record from 32 wins, 1 defeat and one draw to thirty three wins, with twenty four victories inside the distance. Butler leaves with 38 wins, 7 defeats and 1 draw, his knockout total remaining 32. This is his second successive stoppage defeat, and the argument for continuing has become considerably harder to make.

Their promoter’s position was already public. Estephan had wanted Butler to consider his health after the Berlanga defeat but respected his wish for another opportunity. Bazinyan has justified that opportunity for himself; Butler has suffered another punishing reverse. An embrace between the two afterwards reflected their longstanding connection. There was respect at the finish, but no disguising the difference between their performances.

Orobio supplied the main event’s emphatic result, stopping the previously unbeaten Cedeno in the third round after dropping him in the first. Elsewhere, Wyatt Sanford won an eight-round unanimous decision over Gabriel Jimenez, with all three cards reading 80 points to 72, and Avery Martin Duval stopped Damian Wrzesinski in the fourth. The promotion had winning prospects to celebrate. Bazinyan, after his long absence, has made himself part of the conversation again.

I thought Bazinyan showed the difference between having power and knowing how to use it. Butler couldn’t interrupt his rhythm, and every heavy shot invited cleaner work back. Bazinyan’s body attack and right hand did the damage, while his stance changes added another problem. Butler showed courage, but holding only bought time. The disputed fall before the final round didn’t change his condition. He hadn’t recovered, and the referee was right to stop it. For me, Butler needs a serious conversation about retirement before anyone even discusses his next opponent.