Lucian Bute's November Fight Options Being Considered
by Scott Christ on Aug 4, 2011 3:31 PM EDT
in Boxing News Analysis
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Lucian Bute and his promoters at Interbox may not be "scrambling" to find a replacement for Kelly Pavlik in November, but they're certainly trying to work quickly to lock down the super middleweight titlist's next fight.
One interested party is 42-year-old Glen Johnson, who in his last fight was knocked out of the Super Six by Carl Froch. His manager tells Steve Kim that Johnson would be relatively easy to procure for the matchup:
Ok, just spoke to Glen Johnson, he's willing to face Bute "in his backyard" on Nov 5th and his manager, Henry Foster says they don't even need what Pavlik was to receive($1.3 million) to make this a reality.less than a minute ago via web 
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Steve Kim
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Another name brought up, but not offered anything, is Peter Quillin, but Quillin is now set on fighting at middleweight instead of super middleweight, and is moving forward in that direction. He tells Netboxe/BoxingScene.com that he's not interested in the fight. The same article mentions middleweight titlist Dmitry Pirog and comebacking Andre Dirrell as other potential opponents.
If I had to wager a guess, Glen Johnson will probably get this fight. He's easy to deal with, always willing to travel, always in shape, and generally puts on a good show. With the styles of the two fighters, you're likely to get a good fight, and Johnson has more credibility than he knows what to do with, coming off of a loss or not.
After thinking about a Bute vs Johnson fight for a few minutes (really digging into the ol' brain for this one), I had two thoughts, the second of which overpowered the first:
- I've mentioned a few times recently that while Johnson is still a legitimate fighter and solid contender at 168, he does seem to struggle with top fighters these days. Chad Dawson made it look easy in their rematch, Tavoris Cloud won a competitive but in my opinion clear decision last year, and Carl Froch did the same as Cloud. All different fighters, but all deservedly beat Johnson, whose best win in the last five years is either Yusaf Mack or Allan Green. In other words, not the cream of the crop.
- THAT SAID, styles do still make fights, and Lucian Bute's one glaring weakness to me is that he hates fighting inside, and isn't very good at it. Bute loves range, but Johnson brings pressure, is a smart fighter, covers up well defensively, and has only been stopped once in an 18-year pro career, and that was by a peak powers Bernard Hopkins in 1997. Johnson could have the style that despite his age and the fact that he hasn't beaten a fighter on Bute's level in a long time, could make him a very live underdog.
So I like the idea a lot. It's a style matchup that could give Bute a lot of problems, or he could prepare for exactly that type of fight and get a good win, further developing his game and showing a new side. Either way I think you have an interesting fight on your hands.
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Absolutely love this fight, and not just because I’m thrilled about Johnson potentially getting another good payday.
Bute’s gotta be a favorite, but given Johnson’s package of skills (good power, iron chin, solid defense, solid gas tank), I think he’d have a good shot if Bute isn’t actually quite as good as he’s looked against a relatively mediocre slate of fighters.
by Verklemptomaniac on Aug 4, 2011 3:59 PM EDT reply actions
I think Dirrell would make for the most competitive fight of the guys named, but it’s pretty unlikely Showtime is the least bit interested in giving him another payday anytime soon. Johnson then makes the most sense at the moment.
I think Bute would have Dirrell scampering around the ring. But I also don’t think Dirrell should take that type fight right now anyway.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
Well some would say that's his strategy in many fights...
I dunno, I just see Dirrell not giving Bute the same opportunities that most of his opponents have so far, and I think his athleticism and handspeed makes him almost as hard a match-up as Ward would be. Obviously Dirrell doesn’t have Ward’s inside game, but he does pack a bigger punch. The real question would be whether Dirrell has the heart and/or stamina to evade Bute’s offense over 12 rounds.
I agree that it’s far from an ideal comeback, but given his current reputation, it might make sense to jump on any offer for a fight of this magnitude.
I’ll admit I’m not exactly itching to see Andre Dirrell back. Talent’s there, the rest I still seriously question, and I can never forget how bad the Stevens and Froch fights were.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
Never that high on Bute thus far
I think Dirrell could potentially box circles around him. And I would take Dirrell’s stamina over Bute as well.
If I recall correctly, Bute was hardly standing after battling Librado Andrade in a a fight that as far as I’m concerned he would have lost anywhere but home. He has redeemed and acquitted himself nicely since then but he has never fought anyone with as much boxing talent as Dirrell.
I dont’t know if it’s a Dirrell or someone else like Salido was to Juanma but Bute still has to show me that he can stand the real heat for twelve rounds and still be standing. I thgink many of knew that Myagwe was not a abberation but a harbinger of things to come with Juanma. I think the same is twrue of Bute until proven otherwise.
Dirrell IMO beat Froch in Nottingham. Then, in emabarrassing AA he created the blueprint for Froch subsequent win over AA. He is not a pushover by any means.
And for me Bute has to beat better competition before I am jumping his bandwagon.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
Am I misremembering an offer to Bute by Bob Arum that never went anywhere, or am I confusein Bute with somebody else? Seems to me there was some talk of that, but maybe not.
There is no safety in numbers, or in anything else--James Thurber, 1939
I don’t think so. Or should I say I don’t have a recollection of any such offer by either Golden Boy or Top Rank.
Frankly, I think Bute has done very well with his management in terms of building his record and his profile so I don’t see any reason for a change in that regard.
I’m just in the camp of waiting a bit longer for him to fight a higher level of competition before flying his flag like many if not most others.
That Librade Andrade fight was indelible for me. And in boxing that kind of lightning does often strike again.
"Silence is golden when you can't think of a good answer"
---- Muhammed Ali
Gotta love Johnson.
“Hey, Glen, would you be willing to fight (fill in the blank) at (fill in the blank) for (fill in the blank) dollars?”
“Sure.”
I doubt you’d have to get past, “Hey, Glen, would you be willing to fight” before he said sure. A throwback fighter in every sense of the term.
by glatin1982 on Aug 4, 2011 6:33 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Yep.
But we could get a fun Glen Johnson Madlibs game going.
“Hey, Glen would you be willing to fight (King Kong’s mother, 6 drunken sailors, and two horny draft horses) at (the front window of an Amsterdam peepshow) for (2 urine and beer-soaked) dollars?”
We could do one with Victor Ortiz, too.
His answer would be “I’ve been dreaming of this since I was 9 years old.”
“Hey, Glen, would you be willing to fight (King Hippo riding the Cloverfield monster) at (the sunken city of Atlantis) for (50 ears of corn)?
You should make it a fanpost and see what happens.
by glatin1982 on Aug 5, 2011 9:32 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I like Johnson out of the fights mentioned, but I have similar reservations to Scott. Anyone have any idea who got the better of who during the sparring sessions? I know Bute and Johnson sparred in preparation for Bute’s fight against Brinkley and his fight against Miranda.
I like Pirog but I don’t really see him leaving Russia to fight Lucian Bute. For someone coming off such a star-making performance against Jacobs, he’s basically disappeared behind the Iron Curtain. It’s a shame really.
I’m still bummed Kessler dodged the fight with Bute. That was something I was looking forward to. I didn’t see Pavlik beating Bute so I’m not super upset about that fight not happening.
They've sparred a lot more than that
They did camp together for Bute-Andrade II and Dawson-Johnson II
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
by Brickhaus on Aug 5, 2011 8:35 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
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