BRAVE Brit Paul Butler lasted 11 rounds before pound-for-pound superstar Naoya Inoue broke him to become undisputed bantamweight king.
The 34-year-old Cheshire man took his WBO title to Tokyo to face Japan’s WBC, WBA and IBF boss nicknamed the Monster.
And he absorbed a punishing beating on foreign soil before the three-weight champion collapsed him in the penultimate stanza.
Inoue – who started his sensational career at super-fly – is now targeting the super-bantamweight division, saying: “Thanks to Butler for coming to Japan, I could not have done this without him and I commend him.
“I anticipated a longer bout and I was able to show you more, so I am happy.
“I am satisfied with boxing longer than usual today.
“I finally became the undisputed bantamweight champion, thank you very much.
“This has been a long journey for me but this is the final chapter at bantamweight and I have made it.
“Now I am considering changing my division.”
Butler was a 100-1 underdog going into the fight and was predicted by plenty to be stopped inside the opening few rounds.
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But he and Manchester trainer Joe Gallagher had a gameplan to take no early risks and take Inoue into unfamiliar later rounds.
Butler’s guard was high and tight enough to catch most of Inoue’s blows.
And even the Japan icon’s slashing body shots were not causing the Englishman too much crippling pain.
Inoue banked round after round and was showboating to try and lure Butler into launching an attack of his own and leaving himself open for the counter.
But Butler was disciplined and refused to fall into any of the Monster’s traps.
It was not until the 11th round when an accumulation of pain and exhaustion caught up with him and Inoue landed a brutal right to the body.
Butler tried to catch his breath on the ropes but Inoue steamed in and unloaded a flurry of shots that forced Butler to the floor and he failed to beat the count.
