Ward, Like Tarver before him, has always looked mediocre, and I think I have figured out why. Wanna hear it? He cheats.
You're talking about top SMWs. How many are out there? Bute aside how many Top SMWs are right now? According to Showtime there are 8: Taylor, Abraham, Johnson, Froch, Kessler, Ward, Direll and Green. They were/are part of the S6 tournament. They must be top. If SHO says they are, who are we to judge them!? Using terms like "Top SMWs" and "should fight other fighters" (not your case with the last one) leaves the people thinking there are hundreds of boxers you're talking about. Have you ever asked yourself what would people's perception about Bika, Stieglitz, Sartison, Andrade or Magee would have been if they were part of the S6? Would they have been the real deal? I think they would immediately be part of your "TOP SMWs". Every SMW, except Bute, that's not part of the S6 is a mediocre fighter. Now how weak is that for a criteria? Imagine Glen is unavailable for his Froch fight. Please answer this: who will Showtime put in his place? Please, give me a name. Will it have to be a bum? If this tournament was to have never taken place then Kessler was still the top dog of the division. I think he wouldn't have faced Ward by this time. The only way I judge fighters is by watching their fights. And I mean as many fights as possible. For example, I've not only watched Froch's fights but his adversary's fights too. And that just to make a clearer picture about Froch only. If a fighter is playing at a low level his entire career it's only harder to make a picture about him but I don't consider him a bum for that. I may despise him but I don't just bet $5.000 against him if he faces a good boxer simply because I want him to get beat. Bute has flaws but, by the sound of it, you're comparing him with RJJ, Calzaghe or Nigel Benn. There are only 4 fighters now that can be compared with Bute in terms of boxing skills: Dirrell, Kessler, Froch and Ward. And I admit that I know only these 4 because of their notoriety. There may be others out there that I haven't watched. From what I've seen, Bute's flaws can be easily exploited by a quick and strong opponent with very good lateral movement and good inside game that almost never lounges when throwing punches and perfectly protects his lower part of the body. I would bet my house that Bute gets his ass beaten by such a fighter. But guess what? There's no such SMW in boxing today. Part of these qualities are to be seen in all of the above fighters (mostly Dirrell and Ward) but not quite enough as to say that Bute can't compete with them. From my part, I believe Andrade, Bika and Magee will remain Bute's toughest fights even after he fights Kessler, Froch and Ward. I despise Dirrell from the bottom of my heart but, after watching his fights, I think he may be Bute's kryptonite, as some haters stated in another thread. To conlcude, when you're saying that Bute needs to improve to compete with "top SMWs" I just say: 1) Bute is already a top SMW, whether you like it or not; 2) it's a matter of reciprocity: those, four at most, top dogs you're talking about have to improve if they want to face Bute with success. :hi:
Haven't you heard....Ward was knockdown by a bum early in his carrier (Darnell Boone hahaha), struggled with Bika and was afraid to go for the finishing blow against that sorry excuse of a boxer Green. Stop this BS with Ward boxing like a superman and dominating every boxer because its not true. His style is ugly even outside the boxing rules and he gets helped a lot by referees. People said the same about Dawson and that guy got exposed big-time.
Magee got KO'ed once in his career, against a guy name Carl Froch. It took 11 rounds. Why do you have such high expectations for Bute? If Ward had beaten Magee by UD, would you be disappointed? Or would you say : Ward should have had Magee out of there in three round? I don't understand why people expect a lot more from Bute than from the other boxers. Ward-Bika : UD 12 Bute-Bika : UD 12 Bute-MaGee : TKO 10 Froch-MaGee : KO 11 Ward-Miranda : UD 12 Bute-Miranda : TKO 3 I'm not saying Bute would beat these guys. I'm saying that there's no clear #1 right now
If you can't take the fact that people can disagree with you politely, maybe you shouldn't be on a public forum. You're the one who used the word "mediocre". You're the one having to back it. I'm not sure why you talk about Hopkins-Pascal but I had Hopkins by 1 round. What about you? What was your super score?
4 knockdowns and stopped in the 10th. this is a bad thing how? the fans at the fight got plenty of action and good value. bute came out clearly on top of a tough opponent. magee got beat but showed great heart. it's seems like one of the rare times in boxing where everyone's a winner.
Brian Magee is a better fighter than most on this forum gave him credit for. He can stand with any fighter in the world at 168. Thats what happened.I was telling people since the time the fight was signed that Magee wouldnt make it easy for Bute,yet all I read was people(who never saw magee fight) talking about how Magee was a "tomato can".
dont you know the rules? for 95% of the forum unless they have been told by US TV commentators someone is **** hot, even if the evidence is staring you in the face to the contrary. Great example Pirog - Jacobs is gona walk through him, euro hands up style etc etc - yet they hadnt even seem him fight! Magee is pretty much the acid test if you want to be ranked 1-5 at super middle
My only question is when will Bute fight a "respected ranked fighter" that will silence not only I,but many others?Bute,in my opinion , has a most unenviable legacy to date.Please fight a top echelon guy and not these opponent type _B level fighters.:-(
:think I have a feeling there aren't that many that ask themselves the same question. Most of them heard about the Kessler bout that's about to take place this year. What about you?
Magee is pretty awful...But gave a good showing that night. Just a case of Bute underrating him and the underdog fighting out of his skin..Even still Bute dominated and gave him a hiding. Must be said though Lucian's opposition has been terrible lately and he has been fighting to their level a bit. Fair enough if you are a busy champ these days you are going to fight some rubbish in between the big fights or the acceptable mandatories...thing is though Bute doesnt really fight that often and every opponent is more disappointing than the next. The only good fighter he has beaten thus far IMO is Bika.
And what evidence are you usinge exactly to call Magee awful??? What fight did you see involving Magee,where you said to yourself "gee,this Magee guy cant fight!"
I never said he couldnt fight...jeez even quoting me aswell..you should be journalist for the tabloids. But the Reid fight was terrible...just Reid was slightly less terrible on the night. He had a red hot go against Froch actually...but at the time Froch looked very bad himself. Carl has gotten a lot better but still is very flawed.