Butterbean’s final knockout win of his professional career was arguably his strangest.
In March 2007, Butterbean – real name Eric Esch – met Joe Siciliano at the Worcester Palladium in Massachusetts.
Butterbean floored his opponent four times en route to the eventual KO[/caption]
Veteran police officer, Siciliano, entered the fight with a winning record of 4-3 and had previously held the Central Massachusetts heavyweight title – a belt he won via disqualification after it was found his adversary was wearing contact lenses.
Every single opponent Siciliano had beaten had never won a boxing bout so his record looked better on paper than it actually was.
But when he climbed between the ropes with Butterbean spectators were left wondering how he had won a fight against anyone.
Siciliano spent most of the fight on his belly and was either knocked down or stunned by every single punch Esch landed.
The rotund heavyweight was floored four times en route to the eventual second-round stoppage and was left flopping like a fish on the canvas after eating a short right hook for the second knockdown.
It marked the final win of Butterbean’s punishing 91-fight pro boxing career (77-10-4).
He fought three more times as a professional, losing to Harry Funmaker, Curt Allan and Kirk Lawton before eventually deciding to hang up his gloves in 2013.
In retirement, his weight ballooned up to 515lbs leaving Esch unable to move around without the aid of a wheelchair.
However, he has since shed a remarkable 200lbs with the help of WWE legend Diamond Dallas Page and is now looking to have one more fight.
“I’m going to fight one last fight,” Butterbean announced to his followers on Instagram.
“It’s gonna be one year from now.” One year on we still haven’t seen Butterbean make a comeback but he has made it clear who he wants to fight.
“I would love to fight Jake Paul, but Jake Paul is too smart to fight me,” Esch told Chris Van Vliet.
“I’m not saying he is a coward or anything like that but I would destroy him and he thinks he knows it.
“I hit way too hard for him… What bugs me is he’s fighting ex-MMA guys in a boxing match.
“It’s a different sport, MMA guys are not always the best standup guys.
“If the boxing doesn’t work they can take them down… He said something about me ‘I’m not like Butterbean, I’m not a joke’ and ever since then I have wanted to fight him just to show him.”
