Bute was brillant last night

He handled Johnson very comfortably, impressive stuff. Looking forward to him fighting the best now. Ward, Froch, Hopkins, Dawson etc should all be on the agenda.

 

He looked decent but Johnson is getting a bit old now.I have a feeling Bute will start to fall apart when things get a bit tough.He had it all his own way again last night.Froch,Ward,Kessler any of those guys would put him under pressure and take rounds off him.We will have to wait a while longer to see if he can really cut it against the best.

 

Im not saying he aint good but people were talk about him as if hes something other than what he is. Hes a gate keeper to the top 10 of the 168/175 divisions. But he is getting on now, hes a good fighter but he doesnt do anything exceptionally well apart from take a punch. IF bute had stopped him i'd be singing his praises but beating him is just a step in the right direction for bute who has alot of potential.

 

He beat a guy who in his last fight took at least 4 rounds off the no.1 or 2 in the division depending on how you see Froch/Ward going in their fight.

Getting on? Of course. But an experienced, wiley vet' should be able to get more done than Johnson did last night, I don't rate Bute half as much as most but that was a clinical, if somewhat dull, performance. He matches up stylistically with most in his division IMO, which says something.

 

I've always said Johnson was overrated Matt. I'm merely saying that Bute should receive more credit than Froch did, because he beat the exact same Johnson in far more comprehensive fashion. Nothing to do with how good Johnson is, because I don't particularly rate him.

 

Agree he definitely did a better job on him and should get respect for that but i dont think it should be taken too far out of context. Would you rate Froch over Ward because he beat abraham more convincingly? Bute hasnt fought taylor, dirrell, kessler, abraham, pascal an array of top fighters with different styles (apart from pascal and taylor) that Froch has overcome or done well against. The glen johnson win is a good one but it looks better on Frochs record when its combined with those names.

Hes also an experienced vet who took a beating in his last fight from a heavy handed if not concussive puncher with a high workrate. Im not saying he didnt look excellent i just wanted to put the performance into the context as I see it.

For the record i have Froch as #3 in the division behind Ward and Kessler although i believe Froch would beat kessler in a rematch and lose to Ward and Bute.

 

Bute is always brilliant, just watching his hand speed and different punches he uses is amazing. Guy rips anyone apart in his division.

 

I'm starting to think he can beat Ward.

 

Brilliant fighter & great to watch.

 

He'd give Froch a hiding, I think the idea Froch could beat him is fanciful TBH. Froch isn't THAT relentless really, he's a boxer most of the time. Andrade at that point was far more relentless in terms of output and forcing his opponent to work every round which would lead to Bute being ****ed. Plus he may well have improved those deficiencies.

 

His best win is over Glen Johnson like. That doesn't say a lot.

I wouldn't be favouring him over Ward just yet.

 

I'd favor him over Froch and Kessler tho.

 

Same. I've thought for a while that he'd beat Froch. Johnson pushed Froch right to the limit, Bute would take it a step further IMO. I'm not sure on a Kessler match-up, I might just favour the fresher Bute though. It's hard to match fighters up when their resumes aren't really comparable, that's why I don't see Bute beating Ward based on what we've seen of him.

 

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I like Bute, he is one of my favourite active fighters, but lets not get carried away too much.
Bute beat an old G Johnson coming off a loss who at SMW was never more than a tough journeyman/gatekeeper. Johnson was 0-5 in his last 5 world title attempts.

Just a note on G Johnsons SMW career -
In 14 SMW fights Johnson has lost 8 of them.
Johnson has lost at SMW to -

M Sosa who had 5 losses and 2 draws, and lost his next 2 fights after beating Johnson
Kiwanuka who had 3 losses and 2 draws, had lost his last 2 fights coming into his fight with Johnson and his fight after Johnson
Ottke 16-0 IBF champ who in fairness was an outstanding SMW boxer
Vanderpool 27-1 who lost his next fight, but in fairness that was at MW to Hopkins and Vanderpool had a good run after
Branco 38-4-2 who was a world class SMW and became WBA LHW champ
Sheika who was 19-1 and lost his next fight, though in fairness that was to Calzaghe.
Froch 27-1 WBC champ
Bute 29-0 IBF champ

The SMWs that Johnson has managed to beat
Campas 3-20-4 coming off of only 2 losses and won his next fight
Watson 24-16-1, Johnson was his last fight
Renteria 9-23-5 coming in, whos last 10 fight record before facing Johnson was 0-8-2
Zimmerman 15-2-0 coming in, who had lost his previous fight and the one after
A Green 29-2-0 coming in and Johnsons biggest SMW victory

Its not impressive now is it. Please spare me the robbery talk.
If any rated SMW losses to Johnson it wont look good on their resume

A Green 29-2-0 coming in and Johnsons biggest SMW victory To think beating Green was all Johnson had to do to become a Ring rated SMW in todays ratings. Shows that the division isnt as strong as it once was.

Now I think Bute would beat Ward also, but at this time I would question whether any of the current crop would have beaten many of the previous generations SMWs, like Eubank, Benn, Collins, Ottke etc. No none of them would have beaten Calzaghe but at this time many of them are no further on than the likes of Reid, Woodhall, Beyer etc.

I do think Bute can call himself the #1 SMW of now though

 

I think Kessler matches up pretty well with Bute. I think he'd have an easier time against Froch whilst Ward would be an intriguing one. I'd probably favour Ward atm, hopefully we'll get to see it if he beats Froch on Dec 17.