Local bragging rights will be at stake when Montreal’s Steven Butler locks horns with Laval’s Erik Bazinyan at the Centre Videotron in Quebec City on June 27. The pair were originally penned to clash at the Espace St-Denis in Montreal on March 14th.
The super middleweight showdown is entangled with personal relationships that date back to when the two 29-year-olds were about to embark on their amateur careers.
“Erik is one of my best friends in boxing,” Butler said exclusively to FightsATW. “We both started boxing at eleven years old. We were in all the amateur tournaments together and won a lot of amateur tournaments together. We both moved into professional boxing together too, but with different management. A couple of years later, I brought Erik to Camille Estephan, and I said to him, ‘Sign Erik, he’s one of my friends, and he’s very good.’ So I brought Erik to Eye of the Tiger, that’s why he is with us now.”
Bazinyan (32-1-1, 23 KOs) switched allegiance to Estephan as a 17-0 light heavyweight in 2018, while Butler (now 35-5-1, 29 KOs) was campaigning at super welterweight with a handful of knockout victories following a first career defeat to Brandon Cook.
“It’s nothing personal, it’s just a business fight,” Butler explained. “Both of us just want the opportunity to fight again. He’s my best friend in boxing, not in real life. It’s a different thing. He’s not the guy I call to go for dinner or chill with and stuff like that, but in boxing, he is the guy I’ve known for the longest time. Is it difficult to fight him? Yes and no. I’m moving up in weight from 160 to 168 [pounds]. I spoke to Marc [Ramsay] and Camille, and they both told me that we can move up in weight, but we can’t progress for two or three years again at 168 to create another big opportunity. They asked me: ‘What do you want to do?’ I said, ‘I want to test myself against the best at super middleweight.’ I think I will be stronger at 168, more energetic, and there will be less of a weight cut. I think it is going to be very good for me. After that conversation, Marc called me and asked me what I thought about me vs. Erik.
“I explained that I have a lot of love for Erik, but I think this is the best fight to get me back at the elite level at the weight that I want to finish my career. Erik wrote to me on Instagram to say, ‘bro, that is a crazy fight, but it is nothing personal.’ The best man will win. There is no trash talk or stuff like that. We’ve done thousands and thousands of rounds of sparring. We know what each other can bring to the ring, but with 10oz gloves, it will be very different. I think it will be an explosive fight and a big night for boxing in Quebec.”
Bazinyan has failed to score a victory in his last two fights. A split-decision draw against Shakeel Phinn was followed by a 10th-round stoppage defeat at the hands of Jaime Munguia to end a disappointing 2024. He had previously accumulated a spotless 32-0 record. Butler wiped out Toronto’s Steve Rolls inside a round to kick off last year with a bang. Patrice Volny stopped the Montreal favourite on his feet in the 9th round three months later. A super middleweight debut followed in November, scoring a 1st round victory over Fernando Ezequiel Farias.
“I thought he had a good fight against Munguia,” Butler added. “I don’t think we should just look at the loss and the fact that he got stopped. I thought he was winning the fight before he got stopped. That’s what I’m looking at, I’m not just looking at how he lost. He had a good fight; Munguia is a top-level elite fighter. I’m sure he will make some adjustments because Marc and his team know me very well, but it is the same for me and my team. I think it will be a smart fight and explosive, for sure. I’ll be very surprised if he brings something that I don’t already know about him.
“Where I am at in my career at 29, I can’t change. I know I’m an explosive fighter, and I’ll be an explosive fighter for the rest of my career. I either win by knockout or I get knocked out. It’s a little bit of a joke, but it’s true. There is always a lot of action and suspense when I fight, but I’ll try to keep my defence tighter. I will bring a lot of emotion. We are going to see what will happen. I’m confident I will get the win, or I wouldn’t have taken the fight.”
Butler has had two unsuccessful attempts at a world title during his storied career against Japan’s Ryota Murata and Kazakhstan’s Janibek Alimkhanuly. The Montreal man still has ambitions to make his way to the top at the third time of asking.
“For sure, that’s the reason why I am boxing,” Butler answered. “We box to win a world title. It’s always difficult to win a world title against monsters like Janibek. I won’t get the chance to fight for a vacant title against a guy who hasn’t fought at the highest level. I’ve just got my balls and maybe I can surprise someone. We will try to fight another monster and try to create that surprise. I think I have the power to fight at 168. I’ll still be a puncher there, I think I used to lose some power when I used to lose so much weight. I’m a fit guy, I’m not fat. I don’t only lose the water, I lose some muscle too.
“I’ve boxed for a long time, and I know my body and I know my mind. At 29 years old, my body will start to feel old if I keep losing weight and gaining weight. It’s not good for humans, it’s not normal! Before the fight with Volny, I wanted to do it. I spoke to my team and I was like ‘fuck’ I’m stronger in sparring than I am in my fights. We are going to see, this is a real test. I’m going to be the underdog for this fight. I was the underdog against Steve Rolls, and I knocked him out in one round.”
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