Why doesn't he want to move up? it would have been an easy win against Pascal and even before his last performance against Hopkins it was clear that Pascal would not be a long reigning champion. So instead of making a Canadian super fight, they settle for Brinkley and Magee. Bute is not a small fighter, he would be bigger then both Pascal and Hopkins on fight night.
Thing is, they couldn't cancel Brinkley. He was Bute's mando for 2010. If Pascal climbs back up to claim the clear #1 spot @ LHW, maybe the Canadian superfight will happen. But not before late 2012, or sometime in 2013.
Magee is a decent opponent for a belt holder, he's not truly world class but is a deserved European champ and is being underrated by some. The reason people are annoyed at the defence is because Bute gets hyped so much yet has failed to deliver any really big fights unlike all the other top guys at 168.
The IBF belt at this point makes no difference in terms of making Bute more popular. If it means making defenses against Brinkley and Mendy then he should have dropped it regardless. Pascal probably won't be the champion for that long, that's the point. It was a huge missed opportunity. He could have moved back down after, he can still fight Cloud and make it look easy. Magee isn't terrible (probably better then Brinkley and Miranda), but they are wasting Bute's prime by having him fight B class opponents.
It's not so much about the belt, it's about Bute not being able to come back down to 168 at the level he's at currently, after a fight @ LHW. I agree about his prime being somewhat wasted... had not there been any tournament, post-Andrade II fights would have been against VERY different opponents.
Yeah, because Cloud is so busy and powerful, enough to dominate Zuniga to a UD. Yeah, because Dawson's workrate shits all over Bute's. For sure Chad's got the heart to pull this off.
http://www.ckac.com/audioplayer.php?mp3=87611 In french..., Stieglitz, Sartison, Pavlik refuse to fight Bute. From the list showtime gave interbox, only Magee and Bika accept to fight Bute in march. Bute will fight Johnson/Dirrell/Kessler in september.
Bika? How irrelevant. Like he has a better shot now. Green? Not even top 15 anymore. How about Bute-Miranda II? Miranda beat Green.
Do you really think Allan Green would accept? I agree with you on Bika. Bute outboxed him easy in their first fight and imho he would've ko him because he already knows him(e.g Andrade2). Maybe him knowing that and encouraged by the first 6 rounds success against Ward he would have tried to get inside against Lucian , witch would've been a good exercise for a posible fight against 1 of the favorites to win the super six. Larouche probably thought Bika wouldn't bring something new. Magee is a southpaw ranked #1 WBA #2 WBC and #8 IBF.
all i gotta say is, wtf is up with the 2-3 fights a year??? i love bute, but with the opposition he is having, and the short nights he has, he should be fighting 4-5 times a year, id like to see bute fight as many time a year as david lemieux....