Photo: Vincent Ethier – Steven Butler (34-4-1, 28 KOs) and Patrice Volny (18-1, 12 KOs) will finally face each other this evening, June 6, on the 1st of the Casino Avenue, where only 1 of them will stand.
‘Being at a crossroads,’ figuratively speaking, is defined as follows: ‘Being at a moment in one’s life where one must make a delicate choice.’
This is the definition I found on Google. Except that in boxing, there is nothing delicate about saying that “the two boxers are at a crossroads”. The expression is often used indiscriminately to stir up a fight, but in this specific issue, we couldn’t find a better one.
This fight would not have been possible 4 years ago, the two boxers had to go and test the hot international waters and rub shoulders with the best boxers on the planet before giving us this inevitable duel requested by everyone.
Steven Butler: he no longer has the right to lose
Steven Butler turned pro with the intention of becoming world champion and making boxing history. This will be his 40th career fight and even if the cliché is used too often, he no longer has the luxury of losing a fight. His story is not ordinary for a boxer aged only 28, defeated by knockout. against Brandon Cook, first world championship in Japan in 2019, disastrous comeback against Jose de Jesus Macias, second setback in the world championship in California in 2023… Unfortunately, all his defeats have in common that they came for a K.- O. devastating and in 2024, it is no longer allowed to lose repeatedly by knockout.
‘In boxing, a boxer is only as good as his last performance.’ – Latin proverb
In my career as a Quebec boxing expert, I saw Joachim Alcine and Adonis Stevenson go into exile on American soil and sacrifice everything to become world champions. It is with this goal that Butler now trains John Scully. His whole life is now focused on boxing and his goal of becoming world champion.
‘I don’t want to say to myself in five years, I could have done or should have done this or that differently. I try everything and I still believe very strongly in myself. It’s always difficult to accept a defeat. My goal is not to become a millionaire, I want to be world champion,’ said Butler, in an interview with Dave Lévesque.
For Steven Butler, a defeat would be catastrophic, end the big purses, end the rankings and end the dream of becoming world champion.
Patrice Volny: 4 fights in 5 years
I try to be present at every fight of the man who calls himself ‘Vicious’. I love our Canadian version of Paul Williams. A boxer with large arms who manages to be equally effective in short, medium and long distances.
Patrice is now 34 years old… and he has only 19 career fights. For some reason that I cannot explain, Volny cannot accumulate victories and benefit from the momentum following his successes in the ring.
I was heartbroken, Volny was facing Esquiva Falcao to become a mandatory contender for the IBF middleweight title then held by Gennadiy Golovkin. Volny, true to form, started his fight against the Brazilian slowly, then an accidental headbutt happened and the judges saw Falcao winning by one point. Too bad for Volny who was in control of the fight and had his strategy to increase the pace towards the championship rounds.
‘In my eyes, Patrice is still undefeated. We were only two more rounds away from winning a fight that ended because of a freak accident,’ Volny cornerman and manager Éric Bélanger recently said in an interview with Punching Grace.
After the heartbreaking defeat, instead of taking advantage of the visibility of American TV and quickly getting back into the ring, Volny took a sabbatical in 2022 to fight only once in 2023 against Abraham Juárez Ramirez at the Place Bell.
Now approaching his mid-thirties, with a career that does not rise in terms of the number of fights per year and the quality of opponents, Patrice Volny does not have the luxury of suffering defeat against Steven Butler.
Tonight as no tomorrow
Régis Lévesque is thinking of coming back to life so as not to miss this evening of June 6. Two boxers ranked in the top 20 at middleweight, Volny who wants revenge for having been shunned by local promoters during his move to the pros against a hungry Butler who no longer has the right to lose.
I wouldn’t want to be the one setting the odds for this fight at Mise-o-jeu…
But to help him out, my prediction is right HERE.
