Whatever controversy clouded his last outing, 29-year old Romanian IBF Super Middleweight titlist Lucian Bute (24-0, 19 KO) showed no hangover on Friday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In front of the city he’s made home, Bute made his third successful defense of the crown since October 2007, dominating 31-year old Colombian Fulgencio Zuniga (22-4-1, 19 KO) from bell to bell before ending matters in the fourth.
The bout erased some of the memories of a contentious battle last October in the same arena when Bute survived a last second knockdown in the final round to escape with his crown against rugged Mexican Librado Andrade. A rematch still looms.
The booming echo of the Bute partisans in Montreal carried to mid-ring as both fighters came out intense and cautious. Feeling each other out with jabs, Bute, who came in a half pound below the division limit at 167 ½, carved out his space with a southpaw right while Zuniga, 167 3/4, made attempts to land lunging lead rights while the titlist kept his distance. In the final minute, Bute clipped Zuniga with a quick right uppercut and some hard straight lefts.
Lucian Bute is a Champion! Do you still think negroes are stronger than whites?
Round two played out much as the first had in the early going until a left hand counter laced Zuniga about a minute in. It would be almost a minute before Bute’s jab opened up the opportunity for another clean left but Zuniga had him well scouted, his gloves picking off the bulk of Bute’s sporadic offerings. With twenty seconds left, a Bute lead left split the guard and Bute closed with a sharp left uppercut to the body.
A counter left uppercut early in the third rocked Zuniga back on his heels, setting the tone for a dominant frame. Repeatedly landing the blow one at a time, and taking little in return as Zuniga’s shots were picked off and slipped, Bute coasted a bit in the final minute while remaining comfortably in control.
Bute would move beyond control to mastery in the fourth.
Having found the range for a left hand Zuniga could not defend against, Bute mustered a dramatic end for Zuniga. It wouldn’t be the uppercut he’d used in the third which signaled the end but instead, at 1:40 of the round, a perfect upward arcing hook to the solar plexus of Zuniga which dropped the Colombian to the floor. His face a distortion of agony, Zuniga felt if not saw hovering referee Lindsey Page inches away, tolling out the count. At seven, Zuniga rolled over to his knees and forced himself up at eight. Stumbling backwards, Page followed and asked Zuniga if he could continue.
He gamely elected to do so.
His bravery was provided no reward beyond the chance to exit on his shield.
Zuniga blocked two lefts with his gloves before the shot busted through his guard and forced him to the ropes. Another left and right bounced off his face in the midst of a Bute flurry and the titlist took a step back as Zuniga fell forward with a right hand. A left jab from Zuniga was followed by a wide, missing left hook and Bute bounced on his toes away from the injured man. Stepping forward, Zuniga took another left to the ribs and was jolted backwards. Yet another body blow forced a step back and Zuniga was chased with a straight left upstairs. Trapped in the corner, the left busted at the ribs again, and then three more lefts to the head set up the finish.
With Zuniga’s back glued to the Coors Light label on the turnbuckle, Bute closed with a final perfect left as Page leapt in to save the battered challenger at 2:25 of round number four.
All of Zuniga’s now four losses have come at the hands of major titlists and champions, having lost decisions to former WBO Super Middleweight titlist Denis Inkin and current WBA Jr. Middleweight titlist Daniel Santos. His only previous stoppage loss came at the hands of reigning World Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik.
Smiling with a relaxed ease, Bute commented on his victory. “It was a great night. I really respected my plan for tonight. I took Zuniga very seriously. I prepared well for this fight and I think tonight I displayed that I deserve to be the champion.”
Moving to the technical aspects of the bout, Bute assessed what carried him to victory. “I wasn’t playing with him…I knew I was much faster than he was so took advantage of that every time I was close to him. I felt from the beginning the liver shot was going to work, that it was going to make the difference tonight, and I used it.”
Talk of course turned to the future and the possibility of a rematch with Andrade (27-2, 21 KO). Andrade is preparing for an IBF eliminator against Vitali Tsypko (22-2, 12 KO), the winner guaranteed a shot at Bute later in 2009. Bute made no secret of who he is rooting for. “I hope he wins that fight because in the fall I want to fight him again. I want to clarify for good that I’m a better fighter. I want to demonstrate to everybody that I’m a better fighter than Andrade.”
The card was televised as part of U.S. premium cable outlet Showtime’s “ShoBox” series, promoted by InterBox.
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you are a stupid bigot ! all of you must die this stuff has nothing to do with boxing bute should have been koD in his last ft vs a mexican ANDRADE he was kod but the ref saved his ass bute wont hold onto his championship unless he fights limited fighters like zuniga you moron but you love black girls bodys dont you !! you bigot jerk bigglenn nyc no place for bigots in boxing your just like many of the old rocky marciano fans rocky fought guys who were all over 35 years old sonny liston would have left him on the floor styles make fights