Radzhab Butaev Stops Jamal James, Wins WBA Title

Radzhab Butaev remained unbeaten and became WBA champion this past weekend.

Butaev stopped Jamal James in the main event live on Showtime. He won the WBA welterweight title with the win.

“This is very important for me,” said Butaev (14-0, 11 KOs). “It’s a big first step. It’s always been my dream to become a world champion. I took the first step today and I’m very happy.”

The bout began to turn distinctly in Butaev’s favor in round four, as the body punches slowed James output and left him vulnerable to Butaev’s offense. James looked to keep Butaev at bay with awkward movement, which eventually led to referee Celestino Ruiz deducting a point from Butaev in the fifth round.
“We worked hard on switching up and did it in sparring and it worked so we kept doing it,” said Butaev. “I felt it could have ended a lot worse. I thought it was stopped at the right time. Tonight he showed a lot of heart. He showed a lot of heart tonight.”

Jaron Ennis improved to 28-0 with a first round knockout over Thomas Dulorme. The win was the 26th by finish for Ennis.

“We got it early, that’s OK by me,” said Ennis. “We don’t get paid for overtime. I knew it was over after that first knockdown. I just had to take my time and not rush anything. Everything I did today we worked on in the gym.

In the opening bout of the telecast, lightweight contender Michel Rivera (22-0, 14 KOs) remained unbeaten, cruising to a unanimous decision victory over Argentina’s Matias Romero (24-2, 8 KOs) after 10 rounds of action.

Dana Becker

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