Paul Butlin - [16-20-0]

You were a national karate champion and you also pursued kickboxing at one point, so what was it that made you decide to choose boxing as your main combat sport for over a decade now?

I actually wanted to do boxing from an early age, but my uncle taught me karate. I think I was aged 16 when I went to a boxing club in Leicester and my uncle said I was too old to start. I took his word for it as he trained me since I was a kid and obviously he was wrong - I should have started at 16.

Both boxing and mma are taught at your Hardknocks gym, of coure. In terms of matchmaking or structure within mma organisations, are there some things which you think would perhaps benefit boxing if they were implemented?

I think on the whole it's mma which should look at boxing. There is no equivalent to the British Boxing Board of Control over here for mma. There are no brain scans, no blood tests, no drug testing, so I think it's the mma world which could learn a lot from the boxing side. Obviously they have doctors and officials at mma events, but there's no regulation aside from that and that's a downfall for the sport.

You've said to me in the past that being in Prizefighter was your favourite boxing experience. What is it about Prizefighter which makes it not only a compelling format for fans, but also a good platform which attracts good fighters?

I think the first one was the best since nobody knew what to expect. If I remember rightly, everyone at the time aside from David Dolan was a nobody and just getting fights on small hall shows. Then all of a sudden, you're on this show and you're looked after. You've got your expenses paid, you're fighting on tv, and the tournament format just works. I think Sky have cut them down now because they decided there were too many. To be honest, I don't like the direction Prizefighter has been going in since all of a sudden there have been former champions participating. For me that is wrong since, in most cases, they've had their time. It (Prizefighter) should be about building a platform, not trying to rebuild one. It's a brilliant format, I just wish they stuck to the way it was, or that they'd go back to it. I'd say give kids a chance, or at least bring in guys who are trying to make their way up from small hall shows. A lot of fans and sometimes even pundits are quick to rate a boxer based on their record. To what extent would you say a record can be misleading, because obviously an undefeated fighter's record could potentially be padded with a lot of mismatches, but then from a polar opposite point of view, someone like yourself has more losses than wins, yet you've taken a lot of fights at short notice and have even had to train yourself for the most part?

It is massively misleading since a lot of people don't realise that fighters like myself do take a lot of fights on very short notice. I have been in with some top rated fighters even at 24 hours notice. The public don't see that, so they just look at the outcomes and the record and think "you're rubbish". I do train myself, but I don't use that as an excuse. The fitness side of things are all down to me and I've never had a problem with that. I get someone to help me with training on the pads and that's basically it as far as my preparation goes.

Even the Paulo Vidoz fight was 24 hours notice, wasn't it?

Yeah, that was stupid. I had just come out of Prizefighter, I was working in the gym and I got the phone call at about 9pm. The money on offer was alright at the time, so I agreed to it. I think I got a couple of hours sleep, drove down to Stansted Airport, and flew to Italy. Then they messed us about on the day saying I had to go for a medical, even though I had already been cleared and approved by the board. Then I got into the fight and it was shocking, really. I think he stopped me in round 2 or round 1, I can't remember. When you take a fight at short notice, what kind of things do you try to cram into a short space of time for your preparation?

There's honestly nothing much you can cram in if you're a fighter who takes fights on short notice. Physically, it all comes down to how hard you've been training in the gym at the time and if something comes up with good money on offer, you take it. You just try to keep yourself ticking over until that happens. Despite that, I don't really see myself as a journeyman since I have always been getting in there with good fighters. I haven't been getting in with novices on their debuts, I only fight kids with good records and good credentials, so that's what I see as being the difference. So you never really have enough time to be able to devise a gameplan, or to come up with a strategy that's suited to your opponent before you get in there?

No, although I did for Anthony Joshua. People bang on about how good he is, but I had 10 weeks preparation for that fight. Good sparring, good pads, everything was bang on. On the subject of Joshua, I was speaking recently to Matt Skelton's trainer and he agreed that nobody hits as hard as Anthony Joshua.

Last time out against Shane Mcphilbin we saw you take to the centre of the ring, you looked to dictate the pace, and you also looked comfortable picking your shots. It seemed a pretty good all-round performance from you and you did your part to make it a good fight. Was that because you had good preparation, was it because of the occasion of it being a title match, or might there even have been a contributing factor of how personal things got between the two of you on Twitter?

Personal things definitely came into it. Originally I was told that the fight wasn't going to happen because he was always on the piss, which he wouldn't deny. So that's how it started, I got told the fight wasn't going to happen and it kicked off from there. I got riled up since I haven't drank alcohol for 14 years and I do everything to the book as a professional fighter should. For me, getting told that he wasn't going to fight after all when he had been out on the piss, it just wound me up

At the weigh-in, he (Shane Mcphilbin) kissed me on the lips since he expected me to kick off and react to that at the weigh-in, but I wasn't going to do that. As for the fight itself, in a lot of cases my downfall is that I get too wound up and that's when it all falls apart in terms of my performances, but I was able to just stay relaxed and I enjoyed it. Watching that fight back, there were times I could have stepped back and landed shots better, but aside from that, I was moving my head, hands down low and moving around well on my toes. So even though it got to a point where it looked like a bad fight, I got some good things out of it. I was just a bit gutted about how it ended since I trained so hard for that fight, even sparring 10 rounders with three different sparring partners leading up to it, so winning via disqualification was a bit anti-climatic. I didn't want to win like that!

I did see Shane about 6-7 weeks ago at a show. Just thought "this is stupid, we are going to be seeing each other around", so we sort of made up. You'll be boxing again in September, I believe. How is your training going and has an opponent been found yet?

Yeah, I'll be fighting on September 27th in Lincoln. I'm not sure who I'll be fighting yet, that's down to Carl (Greaves). I just want to be on that show to keep busy and see what comes from there.

Any chance of defending the Midlands area title or is that unlikely?

There's no-one to defend it against! There was a lad in Coventry that I was going to fight for the title originally, but I think he's had two losses on the trot now and hasn't gone more than 6 rounds, so I can't see that happening. I might be able to keep hold of the title for a bit! As well as being on Prizefighter and winning the Midlands area title recently, you've also been in the ring with a lot of good fighters over the years. I'm sure there's still more to come, but are you content with what all that you have experienced and achieved to date? I'm guessing fighting Jonathan Banks on that Klitschko card is one of your favourite highlights?

Yeah, 61,000 people were there, it was mad. Again, that fight (with Banks) was at just 3 days notice. He hit me hard in the first round, but then I just got up and carried on. My preparation wasn't good, but the experience I gained from it was. They (K2 Promotions) really look after you when you go abroad to fight on their shows as well.

I'm content with my experiences and there's a lot of things I will be able to pass on as a trainer in the future. I've got my BBBoC training license, so when I do decide to hang up the gloves, I definitely want to train people up. I've picked up so much knowledge over the years, as well as my experience working in loads of gyms and I do my own classes, so I know what works and what doesn't. I will also tell people I train the truth and will treat them all differently. There are a lot of gyms which try to mould a fighter according to what they think is right, but I will mould fighters according to their style. Fitness plays a big part, if they are going out on the piss and not taking it seriously enough, they can just get out of my gym no matter how good they are. Pro boxing is a short career, so they will either train the way I want them to train, or they will have to go train somewhere else. On that note, what sort of advice would you give to youngsters who are perhaps just starting their careers, or are on the verge of doing so? Don't go out drinking for one, I'm guessing!

Yeah, that, and make sure you get the right team around you as well. When you turn pro, you think "oh, I'm a professional boxer now" and all you want to do is fight. So my advice would be to sit down, see who's going to train you and make sure you've got the right manager or promoter behind you. Make sure they have all got a good background. Dillian Whyte returns soon. I know you were offered a fight with him a couple of times in the past. If an offer came in and it were sensible for all parties, would be you up for that?

Yeah, definitely. If the money is right though, I'll fight anyone. I'm not going to just fight for a grand here and a grand there. That would just be stupid and I might as well just get on the road and fight any old fighter if I did that. So if the money is right, I can definitely get in there. I'm able to box in 8-10 rounders easily. I'm obviously boxing in a 4 rounder next up on Carl's show, but that's just to keep ticking over and hopefully get another win. But yeah, Dillian is a really good fighter and he can bang. We'll see what happens now he's back.

About a decade ago or so ago the British heavyweight scene had Julius Francis, Danny Williams, Matt Skelton, Michael Sprott, and Audley Harrison. How would you compare the current crop of British heavyweights?

When I think back, even guys like Michael Holden were quality fighters. I'm not really sure about the currently British heavyweight scene at the minute and think that the only one who truly stands out is Anthony Joshua. I think it's about time that British heavyweights started fighting each other, just like Williams, Francis, Skelton, Harrison, and Sprott did. Like for example, matey boy from Scotland (Gary Cornish) who hit me in the potatoes. He has got to step it up big time. He has got a good record, but he's got to start stepping it up now.

Speaking of Gary Cornish, he did make a reference in jest to that low blow incident on an interview from another site. What were you thoughts on that?

I've read that back a couple of times and I think he's just taking the piss after what I had said about it in a previous interview. But the fact remains that he did hit me in the bollocks! It wasn't a very good fight for me and he was winning every round, I'd give him that, but I do come on stronger as fights go on. I was starting to come on strong and catching him with some shots, but then on the blind side of the ref, he hit me in the bollocks and there I was, rolling around on the floor...holding my bollocks! Then the ref just counted me out. Carl Greaves was jumping up, waving around and try to communicate the fact to the ref that I had been hit low, but the referee kept ignoring me, counted me out and that was it. It was a joke and he (Gary Cornish) knows that. Any final words?

A big shout out to Carl Greaves for turning my career around and for getting me some wins that I needed. A shout out to UK Diggers, who are now sponsoring me. BFN Nutrition have helped me out. Boxfit are going to be helping me out as well with some stuff.