Lucian Bute is The Ring #1 SMW (with GIFs)

If you need to beat the man to be the man, when did Kessler become the man?
Kessler was not the man. #1 was Calzaghe and when he moved on, Kessler remained the highest rated one of: him, Bute and Froch. But they didn't face each other to establish which one was the man.
So now some newcomer comes along and pops Kessler's bubble and we retroactively establish him as the man, just to give more meaning to Ward's win?

 

The division is becoming nicely stacked. :happy

 

Great post, completly agree with this. Maybe a bigger win for Ward with Kessler, but more powerful statement form Bute, man, it was like watching Mosley kicking Margo's iron ass, it was simply incredible.

:bbb

 

I think they just honestly believe he's the best SMW right now. Kessler has to be questioned following his defeat, AA looks obviously limited & Wards only beaten Kessler(who people believe was over-rated anyway).
Sure Bute's only beaten a very limited Andrade so you can't categorically say anyone is #1 but I think its pretty clear Bute would be difficult for any current SMW 2 beat.

 

Wrong, Joe victory was clearer and vs much more willing and confident Kessler, he's not the same since. Ward victory is over the shell of Kessler, he was slow and his timing was awfull. Kessler is still a very, very good boxer but he's simply not was he once was.

 

I agree totally with this.
Too many times a fighter goes from bum to elite or elite to bum.
I don't know who is the #1 SMW and I don't think beating Andrade can put you there. One thing for sure, to be #1 you HAVE TO beat guys like Andrade. And doing it in such an impressive fashion clearly shows you are there with the top guys.

I prefer not knowing who is the #1 than knowing without a doubt that no one can beat the #1 (Klitschkos...)

 

EXACTLY !

a good / great performance from Bute but the top level guys should be handling fighters like Andrade with ( relative ) ease , like Kessler did and Bute has now done. He's is certainly up there but until the Super Six is over there is no way he can be held up as the best.

And in fact if he waits to see who wins the tourney and then beats them it might not make it him no.1 ( it would depend of the performance )

a really good showing tho !

 

Very speculative. Could it be that he timing was off and he looked slow because Ward was/faster than Calzaghe. Ward dominated almost every round against Kessler. At no point was Kessler even in the fight. I don't buy that Calzaghe ruined him, Kessler didn't get beat up that bad in that fight.

I will buy that Ward used the blueprint laid down by calzaghe, end executed it even better than Joe.

But to compare the Kessler win to beating Andrade is plain silly. Like I said it's like comparing ko'ing Tex cobb to dominating Ken Norton. there is NO comparison.


It's good to see Bute has some loyal followers though.

Keith

 

I don't know about #1, but he's definitely in the top 3. I'd rank him below Andre Ward and Carl Froch right now based on resume, but he certainly has the talent to be #1.

He needs to keep seeking out big fights while the super 6 is going on. Maybe Pavlik, Allan Green, Edison Miranda, and Sakio Bika. The division is so deep that he could easily stay busy waiting for the 6's dates to clear up and still be able to have intriguing fights.

People want to knock his win against Andrade, but as much skill as he lacks, he makes up for it by having an iron clad chin and nearly unbreakable determination. The fact that he finished him fairly early and by hurting bad both to the head and to the body is whats so impressive about the win. If you had asked me 10 months ago if I thought Andrade would ever get stopped, i'd tell you that there was absolutely no chance. The manner was much more impressive than just the name itself.

 

Very quick and with power!!!

It's a shame he was not allowed to fight in the tournament.

 

Don't go further...he's dumb. Might get a role in Dumb and Dumber 3...

 

Ranking is not only looking at the last fight. Bute was already #2 and his win against Andrade combined to Kessler's loss, is in my opinion enough to jump to #1. But like many have said, to be ranked #1 does not mean he's the man of the division.

If he wants to keep his number 1 spot, Bute will have to face good opposition because if Ward and Abraham keeps on winning against top opposition, they will earn that spot.

 

Very clever as usual Laffie, one thing is for shure, Lucian will give us a lot more great fights !!!!

Man, that left hook to the chin was nice...

 

Golden Boy owns The Ring and promotes Andrade... how is it unbiased? As for me, I don't care if Bute is #1, 2 or 3.