I know I'm late on this but I was extremely impressed with Bute's performance the other night. How could you not be? Zuniga wasn't in the fight at all. He just had no clue how to attack Bute. It's not like he was tight or weight-drained. He was completely relaxed and confident, smiling all the way to the ring. Once the bell rang, though, he was hopelessly outclassed. That uppercut to the body? Perfect shot. How often do we even get to see such a perfectly placed punch? Credit to Bute for wiping out a solid contender in Zuniga and even moreso for the willingness to give Andrade the rematch he deserves. The Andrade ending is and will never be forgotten but if Bute wanted to put it in the rear-view mirror for the time being he certainly gave a performance that did just that.
Bute did everything right. Zuniga however, has no clue how to fight a southpaw. His lead foot was inside Bute's EVERY SINGLE TIME he tried to come forward. Bute did a beautiful job, but I've been watching Zuniga since the first Zertuche fight in April 2005, and that was the worst performance I've ever seen from him. I'm not going to say anymore about it because it sounds like I'm trying to discredit Bute. I'm not. Bute was perfect.
Zuniga looked horrendous in that fight.:-( Worst I've ever seen his as well. The guy looked like a shop worn fighter or like someone who hardly trained at all for this fight. He was breathing through his mouth early and looked slower than a turtle stuck in mud. Anyway, gotta give props to Bute. He took advantage of his man and put on an effortless one-sided performance. Bring on Andrade again.
Bute mentioned after the fight that he felt Zuniga's power a couple of times. He and his trainer praised Zuniga's heart in getting up and trying to get back into the fight. He must have been in excellent shape if he managed to get up from that bodyshot. He must have been very motivated too, if he decided to carry on. How good he is, generally, is another matter.
Win or lose Zuniga really needed to put on a career best type perfomance. He did not come close to that. It would have been better for both fighters if he would have.
Dude,not to rub it in or anything but Zuniga ain't nowhere near his level.Never was.Never will be.This was a mismatch since signing.
How do you know he didn't perform as well as he could have against Bute? (I am assuming he couldn't have put in a career best performance at 168 lbs, given that he is a natural 160 lbs fighter.)
Nobody's mistaking Zuniga for being a top fighter but he's a solid contender who cannot be taken lightly. One of those grinder types that make you work hard for the victory. Aside from the fact that he floored Pavlik, he gave a good account of himself against Inkin, a genuine world-class fighter, and he flattened Oganov, who despite being completely exposed, finished on his feet against Dirrell after being given the kitchen sink. Zuniga ended matters convincingly. Zuniga's a capable fighter and Bute worked him over good. A very impressive victory for the Romanian fighter.
Bute did a good job with the 4th round stoppage, he just totally dominated the fight, I expected Zuniga to hang in there for possibly the whole distance but Zuniga looked more like a pretender than a contender.
