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Following reports that the fight was nearly done yesterday, today it's official: Lucian Bute and Jean Pascal will meet in Montreal on May 25, in what should be one of the year's biggest fights in terms of fanfare.
Bute (31-1, 24 KO) is moving up to 175 pounds to face Pascal (27-2-1, 16 KO). The two former titlists have fallen on some rough times and have just started their comeback journeys. Bute was obliterated by Carl Froch last year, then had a bit of a creaky win over Denis Grachev in November, while Pascal sat out from May 2011's loss to Bernard Hopkins until December, when he returned and beat Aleksy Kuziemski despite suffering an arm injury mid-fight that left him fighting one-handed.
Though neither guy can be considered at the top of his game right now, they're both in what still should be their prime years, and they are, of course, the two most popular fighters in Montreal, one of the best boxing cities in the world. That alone makes this fight an event, and the fact that it should be a pretty good fight will help, too.
Who do you favor right now?