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Rizwaan
Zahid


Bute impresses America,
and the world
By Rizwaan Zahid
of The Boxing Amusement Park
Lucian Bute showed America and the world what Montreal and Quebec already knew. What they saw was a highly skilled fighter with great power, speed, technique, versatility and boxing knowledge.
I saw Bute’s knockouts firsthand against Alejandro Berrio and William Joppy respectively, and both were quite impressive. The rematch with Andrade however was impressive on an entirely different level.
Bute became the first fighter to not only really hurt Andrade, but knock him out as well. The always-durable Andrade usually won’t flinch if he’s hit in the head with a brick. It took a massive inside left that Andrade never saw coming to put the Mexican down, followed by a fantastic uppercut to the body to put Andrade down and out.
Not only was this by far Bute’s most impressive victory, it was also under the lights of HBO, making the victory that much more important. HBO does not have a super middleweight fighter right now, but they may have found their gem that will be showcased on many World Championship Boxing and Boxing After Dark cards. With six fighters locked in the Super Six tournament, Bute is making the case that he should’ve been in the tournament to begin with. Obviously Andrade is a very different fighter than the other fighters in the tournament. But Bute conquered adversity, and showed poise and ring generalship in beating a fighter wgi nearly knocked him out a year ago. He demonstrated that high quality of skill puts him near the top of the division.
It’s not a stretch to think that Bute could beat Kessler, Froch, Dirrell, Taylor, Ward or Abraham. Styles make fights and Bute’s fundamental skills and power could be enough to dethrone many -- if not all -- of the aforementioned fighters. Ward has provided a blueprint for beating Kessler, Froch has troubled with speed and good boxers, Taylor seems a bit shaky, Dirrell can be hit and hurt, and Abraham can be outboxed. Ward may provide the toughest opposition, but perhaps there is a flaw in his game that will be exposed in the rest of the tournament.
Sadly, we may not get to see what else Bute can do until the conclusion of the Super Six. Still, there are potential fights out there with Allan Green, or a unification fight for the IBF and WBO titles with Robert Stieglitz.
Regardless of who he fights, there are now many more followers of Lucian Bute. If his future performances are anything like the one this past Saturday, we will not be disappointed.
Contact Rizwaan Zahid

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