~~~The Lightning Lucian Bute Battleship~~~

Cliffnote and translation for our non french speaking friends.

1- Interbox is looking at 3 different possible opponents for Bute's next fight. Each from a different continent. (First clue that we have so far!)

2- The choice of that opponent should be made by the end of the week. (Seems pretty fast to me!)

3- They want Bute to fight 3 more times this year. (May, September and December). That's if everything goes as planned of course.

4- They want Bute to fight outside his comfort zone to get the experience that he will need in a big fight. Which is why they are talking about a fight in Europe or in the USA. They want him to be able to perform without 14 000 cheering for him. They want him to have experience in fighting in less then ideal conditions.

 

I know this is way far in the left field but... here is a crazy scenario I came up with.

We know they want to fight outside Canada. Possibly in Europe. Of course the first country that comes to mind is Romania. But wouldn't that pretty much be like fighting at home? (Well it actually is... lol)

What if...

Lucian Bute -vs- Paul Smith in the UK!!!! (Decebal would lose his mind :rofl )

As far as I know Paul Smith is promoted by Frank Warren. He definitely has the money to bring Bute over to defend his title against one of his guys.

Smith is undefeated (He will be 23-0-0 after this weekend if he wins). He was on the contender. I think it would be a pretty decent fight in the UK. It would be huge in Romania because they could actually watch it on prime time tv. Paul Smith is known by the US public since he was on the Contender. Bute would be fighting on the road against a decent but not great opponent. Smith isn't rated by the IBF right now but that shouldn't be a problem.

So that's it. That's my fantasy scenario that probably only has a 0.00001% of coming true.

 

I guess Hanshaw will not be in the runnign for a fight with Bute.





Hanshaw-Dirrell: May 2 - ShoBox

March 4th, 2008 A super middleweight bout between Anthony Hanshaw and Andre Dirrell will headline the May 2 ShoBox card at a site to be announced. If ever there was a bout in which both fighters need to impress on top of winning, its this one - and that normally is good news for the fans. Hanshaw (21-1-1, 14) last fought in July when he dropped a twelve round decision to Roy Jones, Jr. He fought hard and made Jones earn the win.
In his previous bout, he was held to a draw against Jean Paul Mendy in January in the finals of the ShoBox super middleweight tournament. Hanshaw appeared to have done more than enough to earn the win.
Where do we start with Dirrell? He is lightning fast and has one of the coolest nicknames in boxing. Last summer, ‘The Matrix’ fought on HBO against Curtis Stevens and although he won via a wide decision, fans came away unimpressed because Dirrell seemed unwilling to engage.
He has scored two straight stoppage wins since the Stevens bouts and has a record of 14-0 (9).

 

Jeff Lacy seems to be out too.

Jeff Lacy Back on May 31
March 4th, 2008
Former IBF super middleweight titlist Jeff ‘Left Hook’ Lacy will be back in action on May 31 on the undercard of the Shane Mosley-Zab Judah welterweight bout at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Lacy does not yet have an opponent for his bout but, interestingly enough, his bout will not be aired as part of the telecast.

Lacy (23-1, 17) last fought in December when he outpointed Peter Manfredo, Jr. on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather, Jr.-Ricky Hatton bout in Las Vegas.

He did not look great against Manfredo, although he dropped the former Contender runner-up in the fourth round. This seems to be a really solid and smart move getting back in the ring, but not against the type opponent that he would have needed to be matched with to make the telecast.

He needed a year off before the Manfredo bout because he had major surgery on his left shoulder following a bout against Vitali Tsypko in December ‘06.

 

A Typsko fight, probably in Montreal???

I wouldn't know???

 

Tsypko pulled out of an IBF Title Eliminator because of an injury. I don't know if he would be fit to fight in May?

 

Maybe he "pulled" out of the eliminator cause he knew he'd get a shot without one?

I dunno. Was just looking at the rankings and boxrec, really.

 

That article is all speculations. While on the other hand my source as well... a source.

 

It could very well be Bute-Manfredo in Manfredo's back yard in Rhode Island.