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Boxing and MMA's "biggest" fraud: Butterbean

Nothing infuriates me more than know-nothing sports and media types who have been insisting ever since Ali retired that boxing was in the toilet. These Chicken Littles point to every bad thing that happens to "The Sweet Science" as a sign of impending doom while conveinently ignoring all of the good things. Much of this is a combination of general stupidity, typical media laziness, ignorance about the sport and self satisfied arrogance. There are a few realities of boxing however, that are impossible for the serious fight fan to rationalize or defend. I’m not talking about things like fighters with legal problems, crooked judges, crooked promotors, questionable decisions and the like: these things have been part of boxing ever since Jack Dempsey was accused of sticking a railroad spike in his glove to knock out Jess Willard. Media types that use these to demonstrate that boxing is in decline do nothing more than show their ignorance of the sport’s history. The two biggest fraud in today’s boxing scene is Butterbean, and he's now working at undermining another sport with his move to mixed martial arts

I’d have an easier time rationalizing the presence of Butterbean as a sideshow attraction on major boxing and MMA cards were it not for the man’s failure to realize his place in boxing’s pecking order. You would think that the laughable legume would be happy to have a good gig and would attempt to be cool toward actual professional boxers. Think again--Bean opens up a hungry-man size can of vitrol against all manner of boxing icons--including champions past and present--in an interview published in the April 2001 issue of FHM magazine.

He starts his tirade against the legitimate boxing establishment by threatening physical violence against Larry Merchant, the HBO/TVKO commentator who is rightly recognized as being one of the finest in all of sports:

“I’d love to fight Larry Merchant...I despise that man. He’s the most negative person in the world.....He’s so hateful to everybody. At one of my fights they were holding me up in back before I entered the rinig, and Merchant is screaming “This is a farce! Butterbean is holding up the show! They should fine him!

What Butterbean fails to mention--or realize--is that Merchant is only negative about people and events that disgrace the sport of boxing. He actually treats most real fighters with a great deal of respect, and particularly the champions of the sport who most deserve it. Of course it takes a real tough guy to threaten a TV broadcaster who Bean outweighs by over 200 pounds, and who is at least 30 years older than he is. Still, I’d suggest that Mr. Bean might want to refrain from moving on Merchant since he has a couple of HBO colleagues--Roy Jones, Jr. and Lennox Lewis--who could easily put him in his place.

Butterbean then calls out a somewhat more formidable opponent in Larry Holmes:

“I hate Larry Holmes. In his book he said that I shouldn’t be in boxing and that he dislikes me.”

Butterbean goes on to claim that Holmes is fearful of his wrath and has tried to distance himself from the comment. Somehow, I doubt that one of the most underrated world champions in history is exactly cowering in fear of Butterbean or anyone else. Clearly, were Holmes in his prime Bean wouldn’t last a round against him. He did manage to go the distance when he finally fought Larry Holmes, though the former champ put on a boxing clinic in winning a unanimous decision. Larry Holmes was 53 at the time of this fight..

Bean goes on to claim that Mike Tyson is afraid to fight him (“Too many people look at me as an attraction and when I knock him out he’s done!”). He criticizes the way that Evander Holyfied conducts himself out of the ring and calls him a dirty fighter, and then insists that today’s fighters are “babies” compared to men like LaMotta and Marciano. He then tries to get himself over as a tough guy because he’s fought in his exhibition bouts with a broken nose.

The most absurd comments come at the end of the interview where Butterbean insists that he’s superior to most boxers because he’s “both a boxer and an entertainer”. He responds to the obvious question about his refusal to fight in real fights as follows:

Q: Would you get more respect if your fights were scheduled for 10 rounds?

A: What does it matter? Right now I get paid what most fighers get for 10 or 12 rounds just to fight four. Who’s the idiot there. I put people in the seats and other fighters are jealous because I’m making as much as they are for less work.

Butterbean comparing himself to real boxers who train hard, fight the best opposition available and seek championships and greatness goes beyond absurdity. It’s like a national 3 on 3 basketball champion comparing himself to Michael Jordan. Like a guy who tears it up in his neighborhood at street hockey thinking he’s in the same league with Gretzky and Lemeuix. Like a Putt-Putt minature golf champion insinuating that Tiger Woods is jealous and/or fearful of him. It goes beyond hubris into the realm of contempt for the sport that is providing his meal ticket.

So here’s a challenge for Butterbean. Obviously, I’d love to see him get in the ring with a legit boxer in a legit fight but that’s clearly not going to happen. If Butterbean is so confident that he’s the reason people come to boxing matches--if he really does “put people in the seats”--lets see him bank on this box office appeal. Let’s see Butterbean sell out the MGM Grand Garden and draw a decent buyrate as a headline attraction. It really wouldn’t matter who is on the undercard, since the fans would come in droves just to see the Bean. Why would fight fans want to see a masterpiece like Vargas/Trinidad or De La Hoya/Mosley when they could pay the same amount of money and see Butterbean fight some longshoreman in a three round fight? Who *wouldn’t* pay $50 to see that?

The fraud that is Butterbean would be hard enough for a fight fan to stomach if he just kept his mouth shut, beat up whatever local stiff they put in the ring against him and cashed his checks. Since he insists on mocking the sport that has given him a living, insulting serious boxing men like Merchant and legitimate champions like Holyfield and Holmes in the process, he’s gone beyond the realm of just being a bad joke to being an insult to boxing fans, and the sport of boxing itself.

Butterbean has also "diversified" his fighting career by competing in mixed martial arts events. Butterbean has managed to go 8-3-1 in his MMA career--one win was against Wesley "Cabbage" Corriera who's fought in UFC and is a fair to middling fighter.  Besides that win his other victories have come against 7 guys with a combined MMA record of 8-30.  And 7 of the wins were all from one guy--7-19 Leo Sylvest--and I think you can do the math on the records of the other 4 guys he's beat. The only other losing Butterbean opponent to ever win a match is former pro wrestler Sean O'Haire (who's got a 1-2 MMA record at this writing). When Butterbean faces an MMA opponent with a winning record--including Genki Sudo, Ikuhisa "Punk" Minowa and Rob Broughton--he loses. His matchup with O'Haire took place on PRIDE's US debut in Las Vegas on 10/21/06. He was originally slated to face Mark Hunt in a MMA rules contest, but the Nevada Athletic Commission refused to sanction it. PRIDE (not to mention Butterbean) caught a break when Hunt had some visa complications, and Sean O'Haire was brought in as a replacement in a boxing rules match.

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