Eric Esch, also known as ‘Butterbean’ racked up a record of 77-10 with 57 knockouts in his 19-year boxing career.
Butterbean enjoyed stints in various combat sports, from MMA to boxing, and was known for his sheer size and power.
Butterbean knocked out 57 of his opponents, including Terence Crawford‘s trainer, Brian ‘BoMac’ MacIntyre.
Speaking to Bloody Knockout, Butterbean shared the wild story of his favorite knockout, which came against a man who faced two of Mike Tyson’s nightmares.
Butterbean relives first-round KO over Louis Monaco
When asked about his favorite career knockout, Butterbean pointed to Louis Monaco, who he dropped three times before stopping in the first round in 1995.
Butterbean, who dropped Larry Holmes, said of the Monaco fight:
“It’s a funny story on that one. I had been on the road for three months, and if I didn’t knock him out by the second round, we never would’ve had time to get to the airport to get home. We would’ve been there for two days longer. So, I went out there and demolished him. I mean, I almost went too fast and knocked him out.”
Butterbean, who disliked Evander Holyfield, held this knockout close not only due to the wild circumstances of a flight depending on it, but also because of what Monaco went on to do in his career.
“He went on to do a lot. He fought Buster Douglas and knocked out Douglas. He fought a guy named Kevin McBride and knocked out McBride. Both of them knocked out [Mike] Tyson.”
Monaco was only 1-0 when he faced Butterbean, who now wants to fight Jake Paul, and fought Douglas in 1997. Though he did knock Douglas out in the first round, it was after the bell sounded to end the round, and Monaco was disqualified.
Monaco did beat McBride fair and square though, with a fifth-round TKO.
Monaco retired in 2014 with just four wins in his last 20 fights. His record is 16-39-5.
Louis Monaco had a two-fight rivalry with Deontay Wilder’s coach
In 2001, Monaco faced Malik Scott for the first time. He lost a close split-decision against Scott, who went on to become Deontay Wilder’s coach years later.
The pair rematched in 2004, and went the distance again, though this time Scott won by unanimous decision.
This came nine years before Scott was KO’d by Derek Chisora.
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