Bute vs Johnson: Showtime Adds Co-Feature Fight for Saturday

Showtime has added a co-feature fight to Saturday night's card from Quebec City. The main event, of course, will pit IBF super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute against Glen Johnson. The original plan was to air the Robert Stieglitz vs Mikkel Kessler fight from Denmark on tape delay, but with that fight off, an opening was available.

The new co-feature will see undefeated junior welterweight prospect Pier Olivier Cote (17-0, 11 KO) battle Jorge Luis Teron (25-2-1, 17 KO) in a nice step-up fight. Cote, 27, has gone 3-0 in 2011, including wins over veterans Michael Lozada and Pedro Navarrete. Deep on the Pacquiao vs Mosley undercard, Cote dominated and stopped Aris Ambriz as part of Showtime's extensive "red carpet" ccoverage.

Teron, 26, is a tall 140-pounder from the Bronx. He may be best-known for a TKO-3 loss to Brandon Rios in February 2010, before Rios became a star fighter. He's been somewhat inactive dating back to his first loss, a majority decision upset at the hands of Aldo Valtierra in 2008. He's fought just four times since then, going 3-1 and avenging the loss to Valtierra.

While Cote will be the favorite, Teron has some serious size advantages. At 6'0" with a 74-inch reach, he'll tower over the 5'8" Cote, and have a 10-inch reach advantage.

There's good and bad in this decision, too. The good is that it's a nice fight and something we should be happy Showtime is featuring. The bad news is that with this show starting at 9 p.m., the co-feature means that the Showtime broadcast will probably bleed over into the HBO double-header, which starts at 10:15. Anyone who wants to will still be able to catch both main events, but at least a chunk of the Quillin vs McEwan fight on HBO could be missed for Bute vs Johnson.