Butler Belts Out a Quick Victory and Claims Title

It had been more than two years since Lionel Butler wore the belt of a heavyweight champion, and after trying one on again Thursday night he vowed to keep it a while.

Butler, stripped of the state and International Boxing Organization titles after a positive drug test in 1994, won the vacant World Boxing Federation championship by stopping Marcos Gonzalez just 2:36 into a scheduled 12-round bout at the Country Club.

“This time I don’t have to worry about any test being positive,” Butler said. “This [fight] is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Butler was originally scheduled to fight former world champion Iran Barkley, but Barkley passed on the opportunity for a more lucrative fight in Australia.

Although admittedly disappointed, Butler didn’t allow himself to lose focus.

“My plan was to relax and fight my fight,” he said. “I didn’t know much about him other than he was supposed to be a pretty tough guy.”

Gonzalez (17-8-1 with 15 knockouts) was almost overmatched immediately.

Butler (26-12-1, 21 knockouts) opened by blasting away on Gonzalez’s ribs. Once his opponent’s hands dropped, he sent him to the canvas twice with overhand rights.

Gonzalez popped up quickly both times, but referee Jon Schorle jumped in and stopped the bout just before it appeared he would go down for a third time.

“He fought my fight,” Butler said. “He came right to me. He made it easier for me.”

The card’s other heavyweight bout also ended in the first round, with local favorite Jimmy “The Stump” Buffo stopping Victor Sanders just 1:21 into a scheduled four-round bout.

Buffo, whose goal is to earn a match with Eric “Butterbean” Esch is 2-0. Sanders, whose shape might inspire a nickname like “Lima Bean,” dropped his pro debut.

In the card’s best fight, a mailman scattered the grandiose plans of a previously undefeated and rarely challenged light heavyweight like so many junk letters in the wind.

Calvin Combs (5-8), whose day job is that of Malibu mail carrier, battered knockout king Fernando Zuniga all over the ring to win a unanimous six-round decision.

Combs, of Lancaster, wasn’t dominant, but got the job done.

Zuniga, a native of Ecuador, came in 7-0, including six first-round knockouts.

But he should have sensed trouble from this challenger.

Combs was the only opponent Zuniga hadn’t finished without a sweat. The same fighters went six rounds at the Olympic Auditorium in September, with Zuniga awarded a unanimous decision.

In that fight, Zuniga started typically strong, but Combs, as the fight wore on, came on.

“I beat him last time, too, but they gave [the decision] to him,” Combs said, noting that he knocked down Zuniga in the fifth round of their first fight.

In the rematch, it didn’t take him nearly that long.

Combs connected with a left hook barely a minute into the fight and Zuniga crumpled to the canvas. Later in the same round, Zuniga appeared in trouble again, stumbling backward after another Combs left grazed his head.

In a four-round junior welterweight bout, Effi Schneider (6-1) scored a unanimous decision over Richard Calvillo (1-7).

Fredia Gibbs won a unanimous decision in her pro debut over Maria Recinos (0-2-1) in a super-women’s lightweight bout.