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Lucian Bute To Fight Glen Johnson Nov. 5

Published

13 years ago

August 19, 2011

The Sweet Science

LUCIAN BUTE TO DEFEND IBF 168-POUND TITLE

AGAINST GLEN JOHNSON NOV. 5 LIVE ON SHOWTIME^®

AMIDST BACK-TO-BACK WEEKENDS
OF SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP ACTION

Live at 9 p.m. ET/PT, From Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Canada

NEW YORK (Aug. 19, 2011) – Just seven days after Andre Ward and Carl Froch battle in The Final of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, undefeated International Boxing Federation (IBF) Super Middleweight Champion Lucian Bute will headline on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING when he makes the ninth defense of his 168-pound title against ageless former world light heavyweight champion Glen “The Road Warrior’’ Johnson on Saturday, Nov. 5, live on SHOWTIME^®(9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) from Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Canada.

A gifted Romanian-born southpaw, Bute, 31, returns to his adopted home of Canada – after a fourth-round knockout over previously unbeaten, No. 1-ranked Jean Paul Mendy last July 9 in Romania – with an unblemished record of 29-0 with 24 KOs. The remarkable Johnson, 42, of Miami, Fla., is an 18-year veteran known for always giving his absolute best and fighting in an opponent’s backyard. This will be the 10th appearance in a world title bout for the Jamaican-born Johnson (51-15-2, 35 KOs).

“I expect a very tough fight,” Bute said. “I know Glen, and he’s an aggressive fighter who will put relentless pressure on me. Everybody knows I sparred with him in 2009, but sparring and fighting are different. I become another person during a fight and you can be sure I’ll have a few surprises for Glen.

“Glen’s a former world champion and he will be in a great shape. He fought hard against a lot of big names in boxing. This is a good challenge for me and beating Johnson is going to solidify my place among the elite in the super middleweight division.”

The immensely popular Bute, who draws the biggest boxing crowds in all of Canada, has won six consecutive fights inside the distance and has been IBF champ since 2007.

“I’m extremely excited about this fight,” Johnson said. “You will see the best Glen Johnson of the past few years. I’m coming to Canada to derail the Bute train and bring the IBF belt back to the United States. My thanks to SHOWTIME for keeping me in the mix of world-class super middleweights and for doing so much for my career.”

“If there is one man who won’t be intimidated by the droves of fans who come out to see Lucian fight, it is Glen Johnson,” said Ken Hershman, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports. “The winner of this matchup puts himself in very good position to land some blockbuster fights within the division. Though both of these boxers are gentlemen outside of the ring, I expect we’ll see both men fighting as if losing is not an option.”

This past March 19, the 6-foot-2 ½-inch Bute scored two knockdowns en route to a 10^th-round technical knockout over a determined Brian Magee at the Bell Centre in Montreal. In his 2008 SHOWTIME debut, Bute retained the IBF belt on ShoBox: The New Generation with a lopsided 12-round decision over Librado Andrade in one of the most controversial and talked about final rounds of the last decade. Bute signed a multi-fight deal with SHOWTIME in November 2010.

Johnson dropped a competitive 12-round majority decision to Froch in a terrific Super Six World Boxing Classic Semifinal matchup in his most recent outing last June 4 on SHOWTIME. Johnson landed his fair share of hard shots but Froch retaliated with brutal combos each time to win by the scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 114-114.

Two starts ago, the 5-foot-11 Johnson earned the shot at Froch by scoring an eighth-round TKO over Allan Green in Group Stage 3 of the Super Six on Nov. 6, 2010. Johnson, making his first start at 168 pounds in 10 years, replaced the injured Mikkel Kessler and looked fantastic in his super middleweight return.

Despite being the challenger in the Nov. 5 fight, Johnson’s resume boasts a far more impressive roster of opponents than Bute’s. The always-game Johnson has been in the ring with Bernard Hopkins, Tavoris Cloud, Chad Dawson and owns victories over future Hall of Famers, Roy Jones Jr. and Antonio Tarver.

The world title fight is promoted by Interbox, DiBella Entertainment and Warriors Boxing.

Steve Albert will call the action with Al Bernstein and Tarver providing color commentary and Jim Gray serving as ringside reporter. David Dinkins Jr. is the executive producer of SHOWTIME Sports with Ray Smaltz producing and Bob Dunphy directing.

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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”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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