As Bellator heavyweight contender Raphael “The Silencer” Butler (9-1-1) sits backstage getting his hands wrapped prior to his Bellator 148 contest against Tony Johnson (9-2), he will remember just how far he has come in his professional fight career as he looks to take one step closer to Bellator heavyweight gold. From winning the 2004 National Golden Gloves Super Heavyweight Championship as an amateur boxer to his 49 bouts as a professional, Butler knows the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the hill when he hears pro MMA fighters lamenting fighter pay in comparison to pro boxers. In his first year as a pro boxer, Butler fought 13 times to make ends meet, often earning $1,000 a fight. After paying his manager and trainers, Butler was left with $500-$600 a fight remaining in his pocket. The remaining money was put back towards training to continue the dream of making it to the top as a professional boxer.
“Fighters just have to appreciate where they are at and just know that the grass does always look greener. But, you have to remember the guys that you are looking at like the Floyd Mayweather’s and the guys making the big bucks, you have to remember where they started at. They are making that money because of the grind they put in before it. The MMA guys that want to do it have to realize it takes years of grinding and sacrifice to get to that point. It doesn’t just happen overnight.”
When Butler steps into the Bellator cage January 29th in Fresno at the Save Mart Center, it will mark the 12th fight of his pro MMA career since leaving boxing behind. When the round 1 commences, Butler looks to showcase his improved timing and alertness in addition to an enhanced arsenal of weapons at his disposal having spent the last 11 months focusing on improving his kickboxing, wrestling, muay thai, and jiu-jitsu. For Butler however, the mentality of toughness and grit he formed in boxing is the same mentality he carries into the cage as an MMA fighter:
“The basis of the mentality is the same. I tell people all the time, at the end of the day, a fight is a fight but you have to find a way to win the fight. Your job as a fighter is to find a way to win the fight. Regardless of how much better he is at something else that I don’t know or am working on, I still have to find a way to nullify that and come up with the win.”
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LINK: Bellator 148: Raphael Butler on Boxing vs. MMA, UFC, & Title Shot Contention.