Bristol's Danny Butler running out of willing opponents, says Jane Couch

Bristol boxer Danny Butler has been denied the chance to defend his Western Area middleweight title because all of the serious contenders are unwilling to fight him.

Butler, 21, was hoping to put the belt on the line at what will be the third Hatton Promotions event in Bristol, at the city centre Marriott Hotel next Saturday night, but his team have been unable to find a suitable opponent.

He will take on Nottingham's Matt Scriven at the event, which is being co-promoted by former Welterweight champion Jane Couch.

"We've got him a tough fight against Matt Scriven, but it's a shame he can't defend his Western Area title," said Couch. "The problem is that Danny is too good and progressing so quickly that it is becoming harder to find him a worthwhile opponent.

"We had a couple of boxers in Plymouth and Reading lined up, but they didn't want to take the fight. It just shows that Danny is now at a level when he needs to step up. We are hoping to match him against Darren McDermott for the English title in September."

Butler claimed the vacant Western Area title in his last outing at the Marriott with a points decision over Devon's Carl Drake in March and has won 16 of his 17 paid outings.

That has pushed him up to 19th in the current domestic middleweight rankings and Couch insisted that Butler will soon become a serious contender to take the British title off Birmingham-based fighter Wayne Elcock.

"I am so excited about Danny," Couch added. "He is closing in on the top 15 in the country and there is so much ahead of him. Another couple of big wins and he will soon be in the top 10 and in with a chance of the British title."

Butler's Spanorium Farm stable-mate and super featherweight, Pete "Choirboy" Leworthy, provides the chief supporting cast and will be aiming to extend the unbeaten start to his professional career against Latvian Pavels Senkovs, while Bristolian Martin Robins will also feature on the undercard along with popular Welsh performers Brock Cato and Damien Owen.