By Paul Strauss: Lucien Bute’s victory over the twelve to one underdog Brian Magee surprised no one. However, Magee’s grit and determination impressed a lot of people. He gave Bute more than a few moments of distress before succumbing to Bute’s heavier punches.
As usual, Bute was fighting in front of his hometown crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec Canada. They buoyed his spirits and got his adrenaline flowing. At the same time they let the Irishman know he had stepped on to foreign ground and could expect no favors. Magee and his corner men managed forced grins in an attempt to display their confidence..
Both fighters are similar in the fact that they are southpaw, but that is about as far as the similarities go. Magee stands straight up and depends almost totally on keeping his guard high and blocking punches. He has decent speed, and does use angles a bit, and is a good body puncher, but he has a bad habit of leaning in after throwing his jab.
Bute, although taller, bends a lot in and out and side to side, and keeps his guard low. He uses good footwork, coupled with the head movement for defense. Much of the time his method is to fake and feint his opponent into vulnerable positions. He has very good hand speed, and has developed into a genuine power puncher, mainly due to his timing and accuracy. There is more than a little resemblance to the style of Sergio Martinez, or vice versa if you prefer.
Magee pressed the action early and managed to befuddle Bute a bit here and there with his quickness, and eagerness to exchange. He also tried to use a rapid fire jab, and then go around behind Bute’s guard with a right hook, and he did catch Bute early with a good straight left that momentarily shook up the champ.
However, Bute gradually figured out Magee, and started using the punch that most experts thought Magee would be susceptible to, and that was the uppercut. Magee’s style makes him open for the punch, because he leans down and in, especially after throwing his jab. The first time Bute landed a hard left to the ribcage, it made Magee’s eyes tear up in pain. He slumped to the canvas, but Referee Pete Podgorski had a poor angle to see where the punch landed, and he mistakenly thought it was low. He called time, and planned to give Magee up to five minutes to recover. Magee foolishly did not take more than a few moments before he signalled he was okay to continue.
Well, he wasn’t fully recovered and “ouch”, another hard left banged into his ripcage. This time he wilted like a house plant that someone forgot to water. How he managed to shake it off and regain his feet was a testament to his courage and resilence. Bute kept unloading with similar punches, and had Magee down again from a body shot, all of which were examples of how it should be done. Too many fighters limit themselves thinking they have to throw behind the elbow to the kidney, or get a shot under the ribcage to the liver. In doing so, they fail to take advantage of openings to the solar plexus or heart. As evidenced tonight, that punch can have equally devastating effects.
In the tenth round, Bute brought the same punch in at a little higher angle, and Magee cooperated with it by bending in to receive it right on the chin. This one he wasn’t going to shake off, and that was all she wrote or the name of that tune, as Baretta used to say. Even in defeat, Magee can be proud of his effort. He fought hard and well, but Bute was just too good.
Mikkel Kessler was at ringside and he expressed a desire to fight Bute and the winner of the Super Six Tournament. He said that he has been training for the past month, and hopes to start sparring in another three weeks or so. It probably would be wise for him to take a tune up fight before trying to take on someone as skilled as Lucien Bute, especially in Bute’s backyard.
Bute also expressed a willingness to fight Kessler if Mikkel is fully healed from his eye injury. He also stated that he would love to fight in the USA, and has no problem fighting away from his prized Belle Centre. Asked for his opinion on the next semi-final round of the Super Six, he said that he expects the final to be between Ward and Froch. In other words, he expects Froch to beat Glen Johnson, and for Ward to beat Arthur Abraham. Most would agree, but after Johnson’s destruction of Alan Green, a Froch victory over Johnson might be a harder sell.
In the meantime, Bute retains his IBF Super Middleweight Title, and keeps rolling on with an undefeated record in hopes of unifying the title. Magee heads back to Ireland somewhat worse for wear, but satisfied that he gave the fans a good fight and proved his courage.