Bute v Ward, who wins?

Its an interesting fight i think harder to pick than Froch Ward

I could see Bute hurting him to the body and winning with power and precision

but at the same time i could see Ward get rough and use his head and clinch and make it ugly like Hopkins Calzaghe

two fighters i see as being similar to Bute and Ward

 

Ward by schooling. Ward's jab alone will control the fight.

 

I would sightly favour Bute. I think he has the style advantage and if anyone's going to get the better of Ward, it's gonna be Bute IMHO.

The reasons i favour Bute is because of his sneaky punching and ability to neutralise your method of attack with his slickness on D and very little wasted motion on offense.

Ward's only weakness is a tendency to fall in and Bute has the tools to take advantage of that, by throwing punches that come from underneath, especially that vicious uppercut. Bute has great variety as well. He goes to the body with purpose and precision.

Ward has very good punch recovery, by that i mean he gets his arms back extremely quickly after he throws punches, this makes him very difficult to tag, plus he knows all the little tricks, he's brillient on the inside, he turns his gloves and opens them to block power punches.

But Bute is no slouch on the inside either, he also has a quick punch recovery and is more loosy, goosy then Ward. He throws more judge friendly punches and his head will be further away from punches as he won't have to lead like other Ward opponents are forced to do, and his shoulder don't get tired.

Ward's clinches won't be as effective against Bute. If Bute is able to hurt Ward as he falls in then Ward will think twice about coming in and working on the inside. This is half the battle won against Ward, because he relies on handcuffing his opponents and not letting their game started, disrupting their rhythm. I don't think he would be able to handcuff Bute.

Bute has a very good line of defense. He plants his front foot, bends his knees which makes it harder for guys to judge distance and move into range without getting countered. He also has the ability to get off first against Ward, which would be key in some parts of the fight, particularly as Ward adjusts, as he invariably does.

Bute also has very quick punch release. Which means he can win in extended exchanges.

The biggest reason i would favour Bute is because he does whats called the 'hip clinch' just as well as Ward. This is when you get close to your opponent. Get off the centre line, turning your upperbody and aligning your hips with your opponents stomach. Putting your front foot inside his legs. This allows you to smother your opponents punches and invade his space and force him off balance. Ward is a great exponent of this tactics (it's what he'll beat Froch with) but Bute is the opponent who can hip clinch just as well as he does.

It would be a fascinating match-up. I think the person who adjusts best would eeke it out going away.

 

There is no way Ward dominates or 'schools' Bute. No way.

It would be VERY close.

 

This is boxing knowledge with analysis.

something that miss a lot on this forum. The people always talking about resume - opponents - bashing etc..

I am a Bute's fan but i think that Ward would win this by decision (8 rounds to 4 or 7-5)

He is really hard to catch on the outside and Bute would have a lot of problem to coming close to him and Lucian is not the best far from his opponant. He is good even very good but not enough to catch this version of Ward

I think that Bute would dismantle Froch thought and would break him down like he did with Johnson. Johnson felt his power to the body at the end of the first round and he was so hesitant for the rest of the fight.

Once that Froch would feel a real body shot...no matter the heart that you have or the chin that you have...a body shot from Bute hurts anybody.


Don't forget: with Bute : you can have a great chin but nobody has a good liver

 

:good

 

here are two fighter who like to counter (more bute than ward) ward has more of a lunging foreward style (a bit like pascal) as mentioned this will be dangerous for ward. the first few round will be very respectfull, keeping distance and not being the first to attack. i have to say a lot will be depending on what type of ref we get for the fight, some accept clinching more than others or keeping front arm strecht out to long... id like to keep going but my head is about to blow.

als that have to be said is it will be a great tacticle match.

 

That is a very knowledgeable post. I thank you for posting it. Not because you think Bute will win but because you took the time to make a real analysis. It has been a great reading.

 

S&C, great, great post in terms of depth and style analysis. :deal

I think this one is decided by head games. If Bute gets Ward to commit to aggression and times him coming in, Bute can outland Ward all night and maybe get a stoppage IMO. However if Ward gets Bute to commit to aggression and hits him with both hands, at times switch hitting, before securing a 2-3 sec clinch most times, he's on to a clear but somewhat boring UD. A real pick'em, which as a Bute fan I'm inclined to call a late Bute stoppage.

 

I would lean towards Bute. I think his skills are more fluid.

 

I'm leaning more toward Ward
we'll see

 

Bute would win. He's better on the outside, and could outwork him. If ward tried to rough him up on the inside he would eat some serious uppercuts. He would win UD against ward.

 

First of all I think fans will WIN. The most complete fighters at 168. It's a pick'em fight. it all depends on how Word will react to Bute's skills and power and how Bute will react to Ward's speed and ability to break the rhythm with clinches.

I am leaning towards Bute

P.S. : Good post slip&counter. Keep them coming.

 

You fully deserve all the credit you're getting for this post.Balanced and wonderfully measured.An all too infrequent quality at times.
I've changed my mind three times since reading this thread and finding myself drawn to Bute pulling of a surprise close decision that will be difficult for Ward to accept.Venue plays a big part too.Bute by a point or two at most with a large dose of controversy over the scorecards.