BUTE NOT JUST A BRUTE?
San Francisco, CA– Before I get into the unbeaten super middleweight IBF champ Lucien Bute, let me spend a sentence or two on challenger Brian Magee. Seeing I type about 30 words a minute, I’m not expecting the Irishman to last longer than 300 words. Overall, Magee is 34-3-1, 24 KOs.
CANADIAN A TRANSPLANTED ROMANIAN
Now that I’ve written off Magee and any chance of his winning when Showtime goes live from Montreal, Canada Saturday night, let’s talk about the IBF titleholder. At 27-0, 22 KOs, the $64,000 question is how good is Bute? He beat Edison Miranda, but the Colombian was shopworn by the time they fought a year ago.
SHOWTIME AND THE 168 LB. WILD CARD
Bute’s claim to fame is a KO 12 of Librado Andrade in a 2009 rematch. His last foe, overrated and over achiever Jesse Brinkley of NBC & The Contender fame, lasted nine frames in October.
NEEDS TO FACE WINNER OF 168 LB. TOURNEY
The real test for Bute is WBA champ Andre Ward who faces Arthur Abraham (32-2, 26 KOs) in May. Until he faces someone of that ilk, the jury is out. In closing, I still like the under of 300 words (AKA under five rounds).
Pedro Fernandez