MONTREAL — Both men knew their careers hung in the balance and couldn’t afford a loss. It was Steven Butler who not only got the win over compatriot Steve Rolls but quite possibly scored the best win over his career by scoring an eye-catching first round knockout on Thursday.

Butler, who had come up short in two world title efforts, exploded a right hand that pierced Rolls’ defense and followed up with two left hands that left Rolls out on his feet, sagging on the ropes. Referee Yvon Goulet immediately waved the fight off at just 1:05.

With the devastating win the 28-year-old Butler moves his record to 34-4-1 (28 knockouts). He may be a flawed fighter in some regards but he is extremely fun to watch because of his power. 

It will be a tough loss for Rolls, 39, to come back from. He drops to 22-4 (12 KOs).

For the chief supporting bout, The Ring’s No. 10-rated super middleweight Osleys Iglesias made a statement to his division by wiping out usually durable former world title challenger Marcelo Coceres in the opening round.

Iglesias (10-0, 9 KOs), who was making his Eye of The Tiger debut having previously fought exclusively in Europe, didn’t need long to land a left hook to the temple that sent Coceres (32-7-1, 18 KOs) to the floor. He managed to get to his knees but was counted out at 2:07 of the first round. 

The win was all the more impressive given Coceres had given Billy Joe Saunders a lot of trouble before being stopped in 11-rounds in a WBO 168-pound title shot in 2019. Since then, he’s given a good account of himself dropping Edgar Berlanga and made Erik Bazinyan work for it in losing efforts. Most recently he gave rising star Diego Pacheco all he could handle before succumbing in nine-rounds. 

Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse claimed the vacant WBC female heavyweight title by 10-round split decision against a fiercely determined Abril Argentina Vidal.

There was no feeling out opening round as both woman pressed forward and let their hands go. The fast pace continued in the second round and though slowed over the next couple of rounds the action didn’t with both fighters going back and forth. Lepage-Joanisse showed signs of the wear and tear with blood coming from her nose at the conclusion of the third round.  

Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs), whose only loss came when she challenged for the same title seven-years ago, wasn’t about to let this chance. Meanwhile Vidal (10-1, 4 KOs) had also only lost when she fought a world title fight. The visitor fought hard and closed the fight strongly landing several shots the moved Lapage-Joanne around the ring. However, when all was said and done, Lapage-Joanisse had done enough to win 97-93×2 on two scorecards, while the other judge had it 96-94 in favor of Vidal.

The win completed a unique double for Eye of The Tiger, whose first world champion was Bermane Stiverne, who won the WBC heavyweight title.

Movladdin Biyarslanov dropped Cristian Palma twice en route to scoring a third round stoppage in a scheduled eight round junior welterweight contest.

“The Chechen Wolf” dominated the early going before claiming the first big moment of the fight when he dropped Palma in a neutral corner with a left hook to the liver in Round 2. The Chilean-born fighter made it out of the round and decided to have a go in the third round. Biyarslanov (14-0, 12 KOs) picked him moment and landed a combination of right hands to the body dumping Palma  (33-14-2, 7 KOs) on the canvas prompting referee Martin Forest to wave off the action at the 3:00 mark.

In lightweight action Luis Santana stopped Emiliano Garcia in the second round. Santana dropped Garcia with a bodyshot in the opening round and appeared to score a second knockdown on the bell but it was ruled to have been low. The Argentine fighter used the full five minutes to recover and then had the minute interval. It was a mere stay of absence because Santana (11-0, 5 KOs) ended matters dropping Garcia (19-10-1, 13 KOs) with a booming right hand at 1:31 of the second round.

Unbeaten light heavyweight Mehmet Unal won an eight-round unanimous decision over teak tough Facundo Galovar. 

Galovar started well and landed a couple of good shots that got Unal’s attention in the opening round, notably an uppercut that snapped Unal’s head back. Once the 2016 Turkish Olympian settled into the fight he forced Galovar backwards and made him fight at a torrid pace. 

Many of the rounds followed a similar pattern with Unal (9-0, 7 KOs) pressing forward and Galovar trying to cover up. As Galovar tired Unal threatened to get the stoppage visibly hurting the Argentine fighter in Round 5 and had him reeling in the sixth but Galovar (15-11-2, 9 KOs), who had only previously been stopped once hung tough and went the distance. Unal claimed the win by scores of 80-72 x2 and 79-73.

Touted lightweight Jhon Orobio stayed perfect knocking out usually durable Christian Gonzalez in two-rounds.

Orobio (7-0, 7 KOs) took the initiative in the opening round against Gonzalez (12-19-1, 6 KOs), who went to the ropes of his own volition and stayed out of harms way. However, the Colombian was in no mood to let him stick around and used his stabbing jab to break Gonzalez up. Orobio broke through dropping the Argentine import with a bodyshot with a minute left in the second round. Gonzalez bravely fought on but was dropped with another bodyshot and counted out by referee Alain Villeneuve counted him out at 2:52. This was only the third time Gonzalez had been stopped.

In the opening fight of the night rising super middleweight Wilkens Mathieu (8-0, 5 KOs) was extremely impressive stopping Patrik Fiala (8-5-2, 5 KOs) in two-rounds. 

Mathieu, 19, dominated the opening round and hurt his Czech opponent late in the round. He stayed disciplined and when the opening presented its self he dropped Fiala with a big left hand and although he made it to his feet it was the beginning of the end. Mathieu pounced trapping Fiala on the ropes and threw a handful of shots which prompted referee Martin Forest to call a halt to proceedings at 1:57 of the second round. 

ALSO ON RINGTV:

Weigh-in Alert: Steven Butler 160, Steve Rolls 159 – The Ring (ringtv.com)

Steven Butler aims to show off his progress against Steve Rolls on Thursday – The Ring (ringtv.com)

Osleys Iglesias resets his career in Montreal taking on Marcelo Coceres on Thursday – The Ring (ringtv.com)lrain

https://www.ringtv.com/665851-new-faces-mehmet-unal/

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