James Butler Jr. (born December 18, 1972) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2004. He challenged Sven Otke for the IBF super middleweight world title on September 1, 2001. He is famously known for his bout on November 23, 2001 against Richard Grant where he was arrested after the fight for assault. In 2004, Butler was arrested for the murder of Sam Kellerman and was sentenced to 29 years and four months in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
Biography Butler started off his career by scoring 18 wins and only 1 loss in the super middleweight division. This led to a title fight against Sven Ottke who beat Butler by unanimous decision.
Butler's next bout earned him infamy. On November 23, 2001, Butler took on Richard Grant on a special edition of ESPN2's Friday Night Fights, at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. The card was part of a charity event designed to raise money to help assist New York police and fire department personnel that survived the September 11 attacks. The two had met earlier in their careers, fighting in 1996 when they were first starting out as professionals, with Grant winning a four-round decision. The fight went the ten round distance, with all three judges scoring the bout for Grant.
As the two men waited for the results, Butler asked for his gloves to be cut off. After Grant was announced the winner, Butler stood in his corner seeming unpleased by the decision. Grant then made his way over to Butler to congratulate him for his effort, but Butler sucker punched the unsuspecting Grant on his chin that dropped him to the floor. Grant lay dazed on the ring mat and bleeding from the mouth while broadcasters Bob Papa and Teddy Atlas called out for Butler to be arrested on assault charges. Grant suffered a dislocated jaw and lacerated tongue from the unprotected bare knuckle punch, and Butler was eventually convicted of assaulting Grant and spent four months in Rikers Island.
After Butler's assault, he would not return to boxing for three years. Returning as a light heavyweight, he fought four times and lost twice. His last fight was on another ESPN card against former super middleweight contender Omar Sheika, which he lost by split decision on August 10, 2004.
Killing of Sam Kellerman
On October 12, 2004, writer Sam Kellerman (brother of sports analyst Max Kellerman) was killed at his apartment in Los Angeles. Kellerman died of blunt-force trauma to the head, and his body was not found until October 17. Butler was considered a suspect since he had been friends with Kellerman for over 10 years.
On October 20, Butler, accompanied by a lawyer, sought treatment for his alleged bipolar disorder.
Butler was arrested for the Kellerman murder on October 27. Two days later, he pleaded not guilty to murder and arson. He was held on $1.25 million bail. Prosecutors claimed that Butler, the only suspect in the case, repeatedly struck Kellerman in the head with a hammer, then torched Kellerman's Hollywood, California apartment in an attempted cover-up.
On July 8, 2005, a Los Angeles judge ruled there was sufficient evidence for Butler to stand trial on charges of murder and arson.
On March 27, 2006, Butler pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and arson in the 2004 death of Kellerman. On April 5, Butler was sentenced to 29 years and four months in prison by Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, according to Deputy Public Defender Jack Keenan.
Prosecutors speculated Butler was having relationship issues with his girlfriend while also struggling to revive his boxing career when Kellerman asked Butler to move out. A disagreement ensued on how long Butler could stay when he picked up a hammer and killed Kellerman, then torched his house.
Professional boxing record
25Loss20–5 Omar Sheika10August 10, 2004 24Win20–4 Dan SheehanUD6June 4, 2004 23Win19–4 Reggie StricklandUD6May 7, 2004 22Loss18–4 Thomas ReidUD8February 27, 2004 21Loss18–3 Richard GrantUD10November 23, 2001 20Loss18–2 Sven OttkeUD12September 1, 2001 19Win18–1 Jerry WilliamsUD8March 24, 2001 18Win17–1 Jose SpearmanTKO6 (12), September 29, 2000 17Win16–1 Arthur AllenTKO2 (12), March 24, 2000 16Win15–1 Bryant BrannonKO7 (12), October 29, 1999 15Win14–1 Merqui SosaTKO2 (10), July 16, 1999 14Win13–1 Thomas JamesTKO2 (6)June 24, 1999 13Win12–1 Jose Hiram TorresTKO7 (10)May 15, 1999 12Win11–1 Calvin MoodyKO1 (10)April 22, 1999 11Win10–1 Rufat BakuUD10October 9, 1998 10Win9–1 Hector RosarioTKO6 (8)September 11, 1998 9Win8–1 Tim Dendy6March 24, 1998 8Win7–1 Knowledge BeyKO3 (4)January 24, 1998 7Win6–1 Malcolm BrooksPTS6October 10, 1997 6Win5–1 Louis MarchPTS4September 19, 1997 5Win4–1 Robert MuhammadKO6 (6)June 18, 1997 4Win3–1 Gerald Holmes1 (4)April 11, 1997 3Loss2–1 Richard GrantPTS4January 31, 1997 2Win2–0 Derrick Whitley4November 2, 1996 1Win1–0 Eddie Johnson1 (4)October 18, 1996
References
External links
James Butler Deserves Ban From Boxing Video of James Butler's sucker punch against Richard Grant