Butterbean’s most formidable shots he received came from an MMA fighter not a boxer.
Combat sports icon Eric Esch [Butterbean] had a stellar career in the sport, taking on the likes of Larry Holmes.
He had a sensational 91 professional outings and became known as the ‘King of the Three Rounders’, and a cult icon.
But the American wasn’t just notorious having also tried his hand at professional MMA.
And it was in the cage where he received some of his most brutal punishment.
The veteran revealed that it was a head kick that he felt damage from the most, was from his two-fight rival Wesley ‘Cabbage’ Correira.
“It really feels like a baseball bat if you hit at the ground and you feel a vibration,” he told talkSPORT.com in an exclusive chat.
“It wasn’t a painful thing, but it was the jar of it. There is a guy I fought called Cabbage Correira.
“He fought in the UFC, he fought big tough dudes. But I got hit with a leg kick in the head during that one.
“It certainly rang my bell and I certainly felt that one, he had some heavy striking.”
Correira had a stint in the UFC, where he fought some of the best of their era including Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia.
He certainly carried real power in his striking, and it was no wonder he caused his eventual friend problems.
Esch broke his rival’s arm in their first meeting in 2006, but Correira was adamant in revenge.
The pair met again and this time Correira’s striking dynamite was telling as he was stopped two years later in 2008 by the American in a kickboxing clash.
It was the first of many brutal KOs that Esch received in his MMA career, where he fought 25 times with 10 defeats.
Esch was brutally stopped in his final two fights in MMA before retiring in 2011.
The iconic boxer was forced to give up combat sports in 2013 having been confined to a wheelchair in worrying health issues.
But in a positive update, Esch is now in brilliant shape and has lost over 200lbs from his previous 500lbs weight.
As a result, Esch has made regular pleas to try and make a full comeback.
He has regularly called out Jake Paul in a bid to get one final bow.
And Esch suggested to talkSPORT.com that he would like any blockbuster commercial clash to land in Japan.