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Bute Takes Out Game Magee In Round Ten

Published

14 years ago

March 20, 2011

Bute Takes Out Game Magee Lucian Bute needs to seek out the best and the brightest at 168 pounds before he becomes a lock for pundits' pound for pound top twenty (and above) lists. But if he keeps banging to the body like he did against Brian Magee in the main event in Montreal on Saturday night, Bute will have a solid chance at getting his reputation to that next level.

His vicious body shots had Magee, game but underskilled compared to the IBF super middleweight champion, down once in the sixth, twice in the seventh, and Bute ended the session with a left uppercut to the chin in round ten. The ref stopped the scrap after the last knockdown, at 2:04, as he felt Magee's insides had been rearranged enough and he'd simply taken enough punishment for the night.

Bute, who took a few rounds to get comfortable against the fellow lefty, boasted a 138-324 to 111-387 edge in punches. The winner told Jim Gray that Magee was tougher than he expected. “This guy was very, very tough.” He said that he knew a body attack was key after four rounds. Bute said he'd have to be busier, “let my arms go” in the future. A fight with Mikkel Kessler sounds good to him, if Kessler is healthy, and that he likes Froch and Ward in the Super Six finale.

Bute (27-0 entering; age 31; born in Romania; lives in Montreal) was 167 1/2 pounds and the 12-to-1 underdog Magee (34-3 entering; ex European 168 pound champion; age 35; from Ireland ) was 167 3/4 pounds at the weigh in Friday.

In the first, both lefties started fast. Bute caught Magee with a right hook midway through. The Irishman looked to clinch a few times, and didn't look fully in the flow strategy-wise in the first frame.

In the second, ref Pete Podgorski told Mac to stop grabbing. He didn't comply. Bute was letting Magee establish the tone of the bout too much for his corner's liking.

In the third, a counter right worked for Magee. A left hand landed flush on Bute with a minute left, and again fifteen seconds later.

In the fourth, Magee got caught lunging, and paid. Bute perhaps would've had some luck keeping Magee off him with a more frequent jab, but that's just not his style.

In the fifth, Bute got a bit busier. In the sixth, a left to the body, followed by a helpful cuff with his right hand, had Magee down. He was up quickly. Bute liked the crowd getting jazzed, and bore in. In the seventh, a left to the gut felled Magee with 20 seconds remaining. That was seen as a low blow, but it was a clean, evil shot. Right after, another body punch put him down.

In the eighth, Magee tried to get himself out of the deep end. But Bute's superior skills, by now, just had him far and away ahead of the less skilled Irishman.

In the ninth, Magee held tough, credit must go to him. In round ten, the ref just saw enough, after another shot sent Magee to the floor, this one a left hand from down under to the chin.

Al Bernstein of boxingchannel.com chatted with 43-2 Kessler, who said he started training six weeks ago, and that he'll start sparring in about three weeks. Kessler was on the shelf, and out of the Super Six tourney, since last summer because he was diagnosed with a weak muscle in his left eye. Kessler exited the tourney after beating Carl Froch UD12 in April 2010, after being beaten by Andre Ward (TD11) in November 2009.

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Michael Woods

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

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