By Zachary Alapi

Montreal, Canada - Steven Butler (18-0-1, 15KOs) lived up to his “Bang Bang” moniker by scoring an explosive first-round stoppage of Janks Trotter (10-4-1, 10KOs) at 2:41 to claim the vacant IBF North American super welterweight title.

Butler started fast, landing a three-punch combination out of a clinch. Shortly after, a knee-buckling overhand right connected flush on Trotter’s jaw and nearly dropped him. Butler followed up with combinations as the ropes appear to hold Trotter upright, although no knockdown was called.

In the final minute of the round, another right hand nearly decapitated Trotter, spinning him around. Butler pounced, knocking Trotter through the ropes, which prompted a stoppage. At only 21, Butler is one of Canada’s top talents and could find himself in major fights sooner than expected.

Ricky Sismundo (31-9-3, 13 KOs) scored two knockdowns to upset Ghislain Maduma (18-3, 11 KOs) via hard-fought unanimous decision over 10 rounds. Scores were 97-91 and 95-93 (twice).

Sismundo scored a flash knockdown in round one, clipping Maduma with a right hand that forced him to touch his glove to the canvas. Sismundo had, up to that point, landed the round’s most telling counters.

Rounds two and three featured cagey boxing from both men as they looked to outfox each other and land counter hooks. Maduma seemed to clearly win round four behind a purposeful left hook and right hand, stinging Sismundo multiple times.

Maduma and Sismundo did little other than stymie each other’s offense over the next couple of rounds, although Sismundo did well to punctuate round six with a left hook and subsequent flurry. The action picked up towards the end of round seven when Sismundo answered a Maduma left hook with a one-two. They exchanged freely and landed simultaneously as the round ended.

Maduma’s low lead left proved inviting for Sismundo’s spearing overhand rights, which started to land with greater frequency. The fight broke open in the ninth when Sismundo shook Maduma to the soles of his shoes with a right hand and knocked him down shortly after. Maduma barely made it out of the round and seemed out on his feet.

Although Maduma stayed upright during the final round, he could do little more than retreat on wobbly legs.

Jose Emilio Perea (24-7, 15 KOs) upset David Theroux (11-2, 8 KOs) via majority decision. Scores were 58-56, 58-55 and 57-57.

Theroux survived a first-round scare after eating a counter-right from Perea and a follow-up combination that dropped him hard. In fact, Perea seemed on the verge of a stoppage as he unloaded a sustained volley of punches on Theroux, who languished on the ropes and failed to clinch.

To his immense credit, Theroux rallied in round two, buckling Perea with an overhand right. The ensuing frames were contested at close quarters, with both men unloading punishing body shots and taking turns as aggressors. The action was relentless other than a brief break in round five to examine a Perea cut.

Both men sensed they needed the last round, which featured sustained slugging that was more barroom brawl than boxing match. The crowd roared with approval, butTheroux appeared gassed at the bout’s conclusion.

Heavyweight Simon Kean (6-0, 6 KOs), a 2012 Canadian Olympian, destroyed David Torres Garcia (10-4, 9 KOs) in a horrific mismatch. The end came at 1:28 of round two.

Kean floored Garcia with an overhand right early in the opening stanza and proceeded to batter his hapless foe around the ring. A flurry sent Garcia to his knees about a minute later, and Kean retreated to his corner disgusted after Garcia lost his mouthpiece.

As Kean continued to bludgeon Garcia, the Mexican would wave him in – much to the crowd’s delight. Garcia, though, was unable to offer up any resistance other than two counter left hooks that disconcertingly struck Kean flush. That said, the former Olympian shook them off and finished Garcia with a thunderous barrage of shots in a neutral corner.

Batyrzhan Jukembayev (6-0, 6 KOs), who had an extensive amateur career in Kazakhstan, showed poise and a killer instinct in stopping Ivan Pereyra (20-8, 14 KOs) in the fifth round.

Jukembayev displayed a calculated ruthlessness as he stalked Pereyra from the opening bell, landing well with a lead left from his southpaw stance. A scintillating double right hook – to the body and then upstairs – stunned Pereyra in round two, but it was a counter overhand left that floored the Mexican the following round.

Jukembayev, after initially dropping Pereyra with an accidental low blow, scored his second knockdown in round four after a straight left hand and follow-up body shot crumpled the challenger.

It all came to a crushing end during the ensuing stanza, as Jukembayev scored three consecutive knockdowns. A brutal straight left through Pereyra’s guard brought the mismatch to a merciful end. Jukembayev is a prospect worth monitoring.

Prospect Ablaikhan Khussainov (3-0, 3 KOs) battered Attila Csereklye (6-3, 4 KOs) with punishing body punches and pressure until the fight was waved off at 1:44 of the second round.

Khussainov crumpled Csereklye with a vicious left hook to the body in round one and applied relentless pressure for the rest of the stanza. Csereklye was reduced to covering up in a defensive shell for the majority of the round as he absorbed hellacious punishment no matter where he retreated.

Round two began with both men trading huge left hooks, but Khussainov walked through his Hungarian opponent’s best shot and continued to work the body. A barrage of unanswered punches punctuated by a crushing overhand right prompted a merciful referee stoppage.

Mian Hussain’s corner stopped his fight against Silverio Ortiz (35-18, 16 KOs) after Hussain (16-1, 6 KOs) appeared to sustain damage to his left eye, resulting in a fairly significant upset. Official time was 3:00 of the third round.

Ortiz came out swinging with abandon and landed the best punch of the opening round when he drilled Hussain with an overhand right. Hussain, though, rebounded in round two and started to time Ortiz’s bulrushes with counter lefts and body shots from range.

Ortiz, who had done a sound job of throwing varied combinations, backed up and then dropped Hussain with a combination in round three. Between rounds, ringside doctors spent several minutes assessing damage to Hussain’s left eye, and after some deliberation, the fight was waved off. Ortiz, to his credit, had gotten the better of the action up to this point.

Mathieu Germain (8-0, 5 KOs) scored an entertaining six-round unanimous decision over a game Manuel Mares (16-10, 14 KOs) via three scores of 60-54.

Germain buckled Mares early in round two with a sharp combination and followed up by landing consecutive straight right hands down the pipe. Body shots were also paying off for Germain, who consistently managed to land shots – including a thudding left hook – from close range.

Germain played matador in round three, although Mares had some pockets of success with combinations as he advanced. In round four, Germain seemed on the verge of a stoppage as he battered Mares around the ring for the first minute of the round, but he was unable to sustain his early pace. Germain did eat some uppercuts and overhand rights, but he always seemed a punch ahead of Mares.

D'Mitrius Ballard (15-0, 11 KOs) stopped Hungarian Gergo Horvath (9-2-1, 5 KOs) at 1:20 of the second round behind a blistering body attack.

Ballard made a concerted effort to work Horvath’s somewhat soft midsection, firing right and left hooks downstairs. Employing steady pressure, Ballard backed his opponent up for most the opening round.

Ballard would score three knockdowns in round two. A pair of stinging left hooks to Horvath’s body dropped the Hungarian in quick succession, and the end came after an overhand right upstairs crumpled Horvath in his own corner, prompting the referee to immediately stop the bout.