~~~The Lightning Lucian Bute Battleship~~~

Thanks for putting that up!

 

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By Jake Donovan
The moment Joe Calzaghe’s arm was raised in victory over Mikkel Kessler last November, the super middleweight division was given something it sorely lacked in more than 20 years of existence – a definitive leader.


No matter who you believed was the man going in, the bout produced a clear-cut winner between the division’s best two fighters.
Some believed Calzaghe was already the man going in, that Kessler was a clear-cut number two, and the greatest threat to the top spot. Others believed that Calzaghe needed more than 10 years as an alphabet titlist and a win over Jeff Lacy to prove he was better than a Kessler who’d defeated a string of top ten super middleweights in a short amount of time in becoming the flavor of the month.
By November 4, 2007, none of that mattered. Who belonged atop the super middleweight division was no longer limited to a mythical matchup debate.



Unfortunately, the glory didn’t last long. For 14 years, Calzaghe spent his entire career prior to 2008 fighting at 168 lb. and in Europe, in fact all but two of his 44 bouts staged in the United Kingdom. Both trends were broken with a single fight in 2008, his split decision win over Bernard Hopkins in a bout that marked his debut both at light heavyweight and in the United States.


At the time, he kept his options open, not completely writing off 168, but curious to see what other challenges (and more importantly, paydays) awaited him seven pounds north. He eventually severed all ties at super middleweight, and now prepares for a November 8 light heavyweight super fight with Roy Jones Jr, himself one of several notable former super middleweight kings whose claim atop the division never moved past hypothetical.


While Calzaghe looks to add to his Hall of Fame credentials and his bank account, the super middleweight division is forced to rebuild. It took more than 20 years to finally get its best two fighters in the world to settle all debates in the ring. There’s no telling how long it will be before the next universally recognized super middleweight king will surface.


Luckily, the remaining top players in the division aren’t very interested in sitting on their hands, awaiting opportunity to knock on their door. Proof of that exists in this weekend’s Shobox main event, when Lucian Bute puts his alphabet title and undefeated record on the line against Librado Andrade (Friday, SHOWTIME 11PM ET/PT, Montreal, Quebec).


The bout is a small step in restoring order at 168, but an important in producing a lead candidate. A transplanted Romanian now making his home in Montreal, Quebec, Bute is one of several fighters who benefits from the one-man thinning of the herd atop the division.
The 6’2” southpaw has often drawn comparisons to that of Calzaghe, though in suggestion of a work in progress more so than an heir apparent. There are plenty of similarities to draw from , but perhaps most notably at this time is that, like Joe in the early years, the appearance of more style than substance in terms of in-ring achievements.



It took Calzaghe some 13 years to finally gain the respect his career long deserved. To this day, he still hasn’t lost a fight since he was 15 years old, well before he began punching for pay. The reason so many were resistant in warming up to him was the lack of depth on his resume. For far too long, a vacant title win over aged former UK great Chris Eubank stood as his most notable achievements.
Bute (22-0, 18KO) is only approaching his fifth year as a professional, but has made all of the right moves to earn at least some of the hype that has already accompanied his career. No, his popularity doesn’t come anywhere close to rivaling that of all-time hockey great Wayne Gretzky, as suggested in a recently issued overzealous press release. But all things being relative, Bute is already making tremendous strides as a boxing box office attraction.



More than 14,000 fans poured into the Bell Centre in Montreal last October for Bute’s title-winning performance against Alejandro Berrio. Bute is practically a fixture in the arena, with this weekend’s bout marking his 10th straight appearance. It was only fitting that he appeared to be right at home against the murderous punching Berrio, in control of the action for much of the night before literally leaving him out on his feet after landing consecutive jaw-rattling straight lefts.


The win was a frightening reminder of Bute’s ability to close the show, something that had escaped him in recent fights prior. After sprinting out to 15 knockouts in as many fights as a pro, Bute was extended the distance in four of his next five prior to challenging for his first major title.



One of those wins was a unanimous decision over Sakio Bika, who had previously went 12 hard, albeit awkward rounds with Joe Calzaghe and would eventually go on to win Season Three of The Contender.



The win over Bika marked Bute’s debut on stateside network television, with the bout headlining an ESPN2 Friday Night Fights card. His next two bouts were well received in his adopted homeland of Canada, with knockout wins over Berrio and faded former middleweight titlist William Joppy each drawing over 1 million viewers.



Friday’s bout marks just his second appearance on American airwaves, which unfairly places him in the “further proof required” category among such an audience.



The good news for him is a win, especially in impressive fashion, over a legitimate top ten contender will go a long way toward firming up his credentials as one of super middleweight’s best.



The bad news is, he might have to walk through hell in order to earn that level of respect.


One given when standing across the ring from Librado Andrade (27-1, 22KO) is that pure unadulterated violence is soon to follow. Possessing the hands and chin of bricks and a mind of cement, defense is strictly a rumor as far as the free swinging Mexican is concerned.



Thanks to his connections in the industry – advised by Al Haymon and promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Andrade gained plenty of exposure on the way up, a one-time staple in the now defunct HBO Latino Boxeo de Oro series before finding a home on the Telefutura Solo Boxeo circuit. If a fight didn’t end in a knockout, then his opponents were forced to peel themselves off of the canvas in efforts to cross the finish line.


That streak came to an end when Andrade travelled to Denmark last March to take on Mikkel Kessler in a battle of then-undefeated super middleweights. The evening would end in the first and only loss of his career, but the scoreboard hardly told the full story. Kessler dominated the fight, which aired via tape delay on HBO’s Boxing After Dark series, but not the point of a shutout as suggested by all three scorecards. Andrade took everything Kessler had and kept coming, earning a reputation as a bona fide tough guy, even if his boxing skills leave something to be desired.

Three straight knockout wins have followed, all funded by HBO in one capacity or another – two PPV undercard bouts including an impressive knockout of Yusef Mack a year ago, which was followed up by a beatdown of former title challenger Robert Steiglitz earlier this year on Boxing After Dark, which earned him the right to contend for Bute’s hardware this weekend.
Both fighters have earned the right to be discussed among the best of the next generation of the super middleweight division, which only makes this weekend’s bout that much more significant.



The loser suffers little to no shame, as he can take comfort in the fact that the man who defeated him takes a giant leap towards filling a massive void at the top.



JUST THE BEGINNING, WITH MORE TO COME
The Bute-Kessler winner might not want to party too hard this weekend. One night after the two collide in Montreal, Mikkel Kessler continues in the life-after-Calzaghe phase of his career, as the heavily tattooed Dane boxer-puncher takes on German contender Danilo Haussler in Copenhagen.


The bout will be Kessler’s second since his heartbreaking loss to Calzaghe nearly one year ago. Showtime planned to showcase him this past May in a super middleweight non-title encounter with Edison Miranda. Negotiations fell apart somewhere along the way, with Kessler instead opting to stay home and contend for a vacant belt against Dimitri Sartison, whom he stopped in 12 rounds after pitching a virtual shutout the prior eleven.


Sartison was Kessler’s third straight undefeated opponent, following Andrade and Kessler. Haussler isn’t exactly a leap forward, but an interesting enough time-marking bout while waiting out the results of three more major bouts within the division between now and the new year.


Three weeks from now, former Olympic teammates Jermain Taylor and Jeff Lacy collide in a super middleweight elimination match, which HBO will air live from Nashville, Tennessee. The winner will have the option of enforcing his mandatory ranking in challenging the last man standing in a December 6 vacant tile match between undefeated contenders Carl Froch and Jean Pascal.
With enough network interest in 2009, the super middleweight division stands a chance of quickly rebounding. At the very least, crowning a new king anytime before 2031 will be an improvement on the division’s prior 24 years of existence.

 

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Well it depends when he stepped on the scale. If he did it before his workout. He will be fine. He can lose 7-8 lbs of water easily during a workout. Which would bring him right around the 168lbs limit.

If he weight in at 177lbs after the workout.... he's in big trouble.

 

http://www2.canoe.com/sports/nouvelles/archives/2008/10/20081022-063901.html

«Kessler est le roi de notre division»

Daniel Cloutier
Le Journal de Montréal
22/10/2008 06h39

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Le site Internet Fightnews, qui a des correspondants un peu partout sur la planète, publie chaque jour sa liste des 10 meilleurs boxeurs internationaux dans chaque division.
Depuis plusieurs mois, c'est le gaucher montréalais d'origine roumaine Lucian Bute qui occupe la tête du classement chez les poids super-moyens.

Vendredi soir dans le ring du Centre Bell, Bute (22-0-0) procédera à la première défense obligatoire de son titre mondial des 168 livres de l'IBF, lorsqu'il fera face à son aspirant numéro un, le Mexicain Librado Andrade (27-1-0).

«Ce n'est pas vraiment étonnant que le réseau Fightnews considère Bute comme le meilleur boxeur de 168 livres sur la planète actuellement, puisqu'il est invaincu, et il a dominé la très grande majorité des rounds de boxe qu'il a disputés chez les pros», a mentionné Andrade hier matin au gymnase Grant à Pointe-Claire.

«Bute est certainement aussi talentueux que les Joe Calzaghe (main-tenant chez les poids mi-lourds) et les Mikkel Kessler.

«Cependant, Kessler est le maître absolu de notre division de poids, à mon point de vue.

«Il est rapide, habile, intense et cogne extrêmement dur.»

Kessler (40-1-0), un Danois, est celui qui a infligé à Andrade son seul et unique revers.

Il avait mitraillé Andrade de 100 à 120 coups par round le 24 mars 2007 à Copenhague, mais il avait finalement dû se contenter d'une victoire aux points.

On dit que la mâchoire d'Andrade est l'une des plus solides sur la planète.

«Kessler m'a pincé d'aplomb des centaines de fois, mais il n'a pas été capable de me faire mal une seule fois », a admis Andrade.

«Un coup que je ne vois pas venir peut me faire mal ou m'étourdir, mais Kessler, lui, attaquait constamment, ce qui me gardait en alerte.»

Remarquable résistance organique

Andrade, qui est d'une ténacité exceptionnelle dans le ring, sait qu'il s'apprête à combattre un boxeur doté d'une remarquable résistance organique.

«Je sais que Bute a la réputation d'être plus dangereux et plus productif dans la deuxième que dans la première moitié de ses combats, mais je pense qu'il a tendance à se la couler douce durant les cinq ou six premiers rounds», a affirmé Andrade.

«Il donne un coup ici et là, puis se déplace à gauche et à droite. Cette stratégie lui permet de préserver ses énergies pour les cinq ou six derniers rounds.

«Seulement, il n'aura pas trop de temps pour se reposer avec moi dans les pattes. J'ai l'habitude d'attaquer dès le premier son de cloche, et d'ar rêter lorsque j'entends le der nier son de cloche. L'achar nement est ma marque de commerce, comme vous le savez.»

Andrade sait que Bute jouit d'une gigantesque popularité à Montréal, mais il ne craint pas pour autant un verdict partial de la part des juges de l'affrontement.

«Je ne redoute jamais les juges des combats dans lesquels je suis impliqué», a dit Andrade, qui s'entraîne depuis cette année sous la férule des frères Howard et Otis Grant à Pointe-Claire.

«Je fais mon travail dans le ring, ils font le leur aux abords du ring.

«Je n'ai été déclaré vaincu qu'une seule fois, et les juges du combat savaient ce qu'ils faisaient en déclarant Kessler vainqueur.»

Rappelons qu'Andrade est celui qui avait poussé le Montréalais Otis Grant à la retraite en 2006.

Au Cabaret du Casino de Montréal, il avait battu Grant par K.-O. technique (huitième round) dans le cadre d'un match éliminatoire décisif au championnat du monde des poids supermoyens du WBC.

C'est cette victoire qui avait valu à Andrade »la chance» d'affronter Kessler au Danemark.

Peu importe le résultat du combat de vendredi soir, Andrade poursuivra sa carrière de boxeur professionnel.

«Je n'ai que 30 ans, alors j'ai encore quelques bonnes années devant moi, a ajouté Andrade.

Seulement, j'ai bien hâte de réaliser mon rêve de devenir champion du monde.»

 

You are right indeed.

 

Is his name really pronounced , "boo-tay"? I mean, they screwed up the pronunciation, right?

 

It's hard to explain how to pronounce his name properly because there is no equivalent in english. The last part is right. The "te" is pronounced "tay". The "Bu" is another story.

 

Librado Andrade is a good measuring stick to see how good Bute is.