Lucian Bute stops Librado Andrade in 4th round

By Jim Dower: Unbeaten International Boxing Federation (IBF) super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (25-0, 20 KO’s) defeated Librado Andrade in their rematch tonight in the 4th round at the Pepsi Coliseum, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Bute controlled the action by blasting Andrade with 1-2 combinations and then either running away to the outside or electing to grab Anrade in a clinch.

It wasn’t particularly interesting to watch because of the clinching and the backwards retreating motions from Bute. In the 4th, Andrade came rushing into a big left hand from Bute and was knocked down. Andrade was then knocked down again, this time from a body shot, after he got up. The referee then stopped the bout.

Andrade did a good job in the first two rounds taking the fight to Bute. Andrade was able to connect with short left hooks and right hands in close and seemed to have Bute’s number in both the 1st and 2nd rounds. Bute looked nervous for the most part, circling Andrade and trying to keep the action on the outside. It was as if Bute was nervous about getting hit and didn’t want to take any chances that he might get clipped like he did in his last fight with Andrade a year ago. Andrade had his best luck when he was able to get in close and hit Bute with hard shots to the head.

After the 2nd round, Bute’s corner lectured him saying that he was fighting Andade’s fight. In the 3rd, Bute came out much more aggressive than he had been in the first two rounds, and began to land huge 1-2 combinations to the head of Andrade. Instead of Andrade doing the pressuring, it was now Bute who was stalking him all around the ring looking to land big power shots.

In the first minute of the round, Bute landed a perfect right-left combination that snapped Andade’s head around. Bute continued to pour in big shots for the remainder of the round and make Andrade looked out of his league. This round was almost a carbon copy of how many of the earlier rounds were fought in their first fight a year ago, in which Andrade was nailed over and over again by the quicker and better skilled Bute.

In the 4th round, Bute repeatedly landed hard left hands to the head of Andrade, which had the Quebec crowd roaring with approval each time he’d connect with a hard shot. Andrade later charged forward and while trying to land in close, Bute tagged him with a fast left hand that put Andrade down face first on the canvas. The punch wasn’t thrown all that hard and seemed to take Andrade completely by surprise, as he smiled and winked at his corner as he laid on the canvas.

Upon getting up, Andrade took the fight to Bute looking as if he was trying to make up for the knockout somehow. Indeed, Andrade landed some nice shots after getting up and didn’t look to be showing any ill effects from the knockdown. However, after backing Bute into a corner, Andrade was nailed by a hard left hand to the midsection which sent Andrade down on all fours on the canvas. He was too hurt to get up and the fight was stopped at this point.

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