Watch his fight with Bika, who he shut out, or his 2nd fight with Andrade and tell me he is a one punch fighter.
I'm a big Bute fan and I'd cheer for him against Ward. However I'm not sure if I'd pick Bute to win. I think he's the better boxer, but I don't believe he'd react well against Ward's inside game. That is the fight I want to see at super middle weight.
I'd say Ward dominates the fight for like the 7 first rounds and does just enough to win every round until Bute catches him with an enormous body uppercut. Ward still survives 2 rounds of beatdown and then his team has to throw the towel in the first second of the 10th round, as the Californian's spleen is bleeding like a fire hydrant and his life is seriously threatened.:scaredas:
Ward refused to fight in the tournament unless he had all of his fights in his home town. Ward refuses to allow Bute to fight in the tournament, and I can see why. Bute will knock Ward out, so Ward will never fight him, no way.
Ward is too smart for Bute and has far too many levels in his game. Ward is versatile and he can adapt. Bute's best chance would be to get Ward out of there early, and I don't see that happening. Ward wins comfortably on points. Something along the lines of 117-111/116-112. :smoke
Are you going to blame Ward for the fact his team negotiated him a better deal than the other guy's teams got them in the Super Six? That's crap! Ward has nothing to apologize on that front. :smoke
So that's who's been keeping Bute out of the tournament. On a serious note though, I'm leaning toward Ward to win. Ward comes in head first sometimes and Bute has a great uppercut counter, so it'd be a very interesting fight. Bute might hurt him at some point in the fight.
I really hate Ward, and I voted for Bute by KO, but I think Dbouzaine made some excellent points. In addition, I just watched Bute/Brinkley, and I was not impressed at all. Put it this way; I now have a better understanding of what Pavlik's manager must have seen in Bute before he sent an offer.