Third time's a charm. That is the hope anyway when Erik Bazinyan and Steven Butler meet at Montreal Casino, Montreal on Thursday November 13.

The pair had been tabbed to face one another in a March 14 main event, before Baziyan injured his ankle ligaments.

The fight was pushed back to the co-feature slot on the Christian Mbilli-Maciej Sulecki bill in Quebec City on June 27, though Bazinyan's ankle hadn't healed in time and again their booking fell by the wayside.

Eye of The Tiger president Camille Estephan is pleased to have been able to finally get the fight over the line.

"It's a really big fight on the local scene," Estephan told The Ring. "These are two guys who have fought on the international scene and want to go back.

"The winner has so much to gain, the loser may have to reconsider his career. This is very much of a crossroads fight, which is promising given their styles and calibre."

The undercard will also feature rising super middleweight Moreno Fendero (12-0, 10 KOs), talented lightweight Luis Santana (14-0, 7 KOs), 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Wyatt Sanford (4-0, 2 KOs) and popular amateur standout Deylen Pepin debuts in the paid ranks.

Their opponents and full undercard details will be announced in the coming weeks.

Bazinyan (32-1-1, 22 KOs) was an excellent amateur in his native Armenia before emigrating to Canada, where he turned pro at 18. He learned his craft away from the pressures often following highly-regarded prospects, though it's been a slow burn.

During a three-fight run, the 30-year-old scored a career-best decision win over former title challenger Marcelo Coceres in June 2022, edged past stylistically challenging Alantez Fox (MD10) and bested Mexico's tough Juan de Jesus Macias over 10 rounds.

He produced an impressive sixth-round knockout win over Ronald Ellis in October 2023, before laboring to a 10-round draw with Shakeel Phinn in May 2024.

He took a swing at the elite four months later and despite a good start, suffered a 10th-round stoppage loss to Jaime Munguia.

Butler (36-5-1, 30 KOs) was a good domestic-level amateur before turning pro in 2014. He remained unbeaten before compatriot Brandon Cook scored a seventh-round stoppage at his expense in January 2017.

Several wins earned him a shot at WBA 160-pound ruler Ryota Murata in Japan, but he was stopped in five rounds during their December 2019 matchup. After a fifth-round stoppage loss on his comeback against de Jesus Macias, his career was on the line.

Though to his credit, he worked his way back up to claim the NABF title and was rewarded with a second world title opportunity, this time against WBO ruler Janibek Alimkhanuly.

Janibek made quick work of him with a second-round stoppage, though Butler has built back after more setbacks since. He notably iced Steve Rolls in a round, before Patrice Volny's ninth-round knockout put him back on the comeback trail again.

The 30-year-old elected to move up in weight and has won two straight by stoppage: the unheralded Fernando Ezequiel Farias before avenging defeat by Macias in four rounds when the Bazinyan bout fell through in June.