A two-time middleweight title challenger, Steven Butler had been tabbed to face promotional stablemate Erik Bazinyan in a super middleweight crossroads fight on Friday.

However, when Bazinyan was unable to recover from a ligament damage that originally curtailed their March 14 meeting, in stepped Jose de Jesus Macias, who previously stopped Butler in five rounds.

Four years later, the pair will rematch on the undercard of Christian Mbilli-Maciej Sulecki at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada.

"I think Macias is going to wait for the punch because he knows he can't win by decision, so he's going to try for the one punch like last time," Butler (35-5-1, 29 KOs) told The Ring. "He knows he has the punch to knock me out. He knocked me out last time, I got a little bit lazy in this fight because it was a fight during COVID, in Mexico.

"I've got no excuse and I'm happy to make the fight happen because for a long time I wanted this revenge. We trained hard for Bazinyan and nothing changed with Macias, we just continued the process. We're ready for everything Macias is going to bring in the ring on June 27."

The 29-year-old power puncher believes the chance to correct a previous error will help him prepare for the mooted Bazinyan fight.

"If the fight with Erik happens after it's better," he said. "A fight with Erik is more beneficial for my career, but for myself I want revenge more than to fight Erik. I want to get the W with Macias before I get the W with Erik.

"I'm confident I can beat Erik now or later. In the end, we don't know if the fight with Erik is going to happen, maybe I'm going to get another opportunity, we don't have a signed contract. We don't know. I hope the best for Erik. I have known him for years. I know his family, he knows mine. A win against Erik would put me in a good position to get some good fights. He just had a good fight with [Jaime] Munguia. For me, he was winning before he got stopped."

Butler, who stepped up to super middleweight in his last time, knows what went wrong last time and appreciates there is little room for another mistake and must be fully dialed in.

"I have my fight to focus on now, it is the most important thing," he said. "I will be 100 percent focused, round by round, second by second, minute by minute and in the end if I put my best, Macias is not going to get chance to touch me or pull a surprise again.

"Before the first fight, I went there and just to take a quick fight and now I'm focused like it's a world title fight for me and will put me back in a good position where I want to be."

Having sweated down to make 160 pounds for many years, he feels a new lease of life with the extra poundage.

"I know I lost of energy," he said. "I eat good, and in the end, the couple of pounds I lost dehydrated me. Now I will be stronger. I feel more power. ... I think 168 will be a new beginning for me and the sky is the limit."

Macias (29-13-4, 15 KOs) turned professional in 2011. The Guadalajara, Mexico, native lost his debut and again in his fifth and ninth outings. However, he learned on the job and reeled off 12 consecutive wins. He lost three consecutive fights, notably going the distance with Erickson Lubin (UD 10) and Giovani Santillan (UD 8) in America. Macias has scored impressive wins over Canadians Francis Lafrenier (MD 8) and Butler (TKO 5).

The 33-year-old lost to Pavel Silyagin (UD 10), Bazinyan (UD 10) and Callum Simpson (UD 10) but returned late last year with a win.

Mbilli vs. Sulecki, plus undercard bouts, will broadcast on ESPN+ on Friday (6 p.m. ET) .