BOTH SHOWTIME & HBO GO SATURDAY
New York, NY– In a reprise of their 2008 brawl, undefeated IBF super middleweight (168 lbs) title holder Lucian Bute (24-0, 19 KOs) and two time title challenger Librado Andrade (28-2, 21 KOs) will throw down in a scheduled 12 round affair at Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. HBO’s Boxing After Dark will televise Saturday night at 10 PM ET.
CONTROVERSIAL END PREVENTED KO IN FIRST FIGHT
Trailing on all three judges scorecards in the final round of an all action fight, a desperate Andrade fired a barrage of punches at the seemingly tired Bute. The plethora of shots sent Bute reeling as Andrade continued to stalk and throw. Andrade eventually nailed the broken down Bute with a devastating blow dropping him to the canvas with less then five seconds remaining in the bout. The referee administered a count in which he stopped at seven to warn Andrade for prematurely coming out of his assigned corner. Because of the extended lapse in time, Bute was able to get up and finish the fight on his feet. Had it not been for the referee’s “long count,” most ringside observers felt Andrade would have been awarded with a knockout win.
REPEAT?
After a series of victories in front of his adoring fans in his adopted country of Canada, Romanian scraper Lucian Bute is looking to continue his success. A more definitive win for Bute this time around could open the doors for greater international appeal and possibly rank him among the elite fighters in a division that has received much publicity of late.
REDEMPTION?
Highly regarded revenge minded Mexican native Librado Andrade is looking to play spoiler to Bute’s campaign and finally a capture a world title. Andrade’s first bid at world supremacy was back in 2007 when he was shutout by former WBA champion Mikkel Kessler, 120-108 on all scorecards. Against Bute, he’ll call upon his will imposing style to rectify his past disappointments.
JOAN GUZMAN TO MEET ALI
The opening bout features undefeated Joan Guzman (29-0, 17 KOs) and Ali Funeka (30-2-2, 25 KOs) in a lightweight (135) 12-rounder for the vacant IBF belt.
SHOWTIME HAS A CARD TOO!
Power punching lightweight John Molina Jr. (18-0, 14 KOs) will make his nationally televised boxing debut against Martin Honorio (26-4-1, 14 KOs) over ten rounds or less this Saturday night televised on a special edition of ShoBox at 11 PM ET. Molina is the son of John-John Molina, a former 130 lb. champ who had famous rumbles with Tony “The Tiger” Lopez.
UP AND COMING OR DOWN AND OUT?
Molina has a habit of making nights short; of his 14 knockout wins, six have come in the first round and five in the second with his most recent being just 34 seconds into round one. Battle tested veteran Honorio has fought respectable opposition defeating opponents such as Rogers Mtagwa (W SD 12), Steven Luevano (W UD 12), and Cristobal Cruz (W KO 1), but has fallen short in top level competition against Robert Guerrero (L KO 1). Honorio’s vast ring experiences should prove to be a daunting task for the young prospect Molina.
CO-FEATURE IS EVEN ON PAPER
In the co feature, Rico Ramos (13-0, 8 KOs) will meet Alejandro Perez (14-1-1, 9 KOs) in a scheduled 8 round junior bantamweight (115 lbs) bout.
John Signorella