Bute vs. Miranda: Edison has a puncher’s chance but that’s about it

By Jason Kim: Knockout artist Edison Miranda (33-4, 29 KO’s) has the deck stacked against him this Saturday night when he who many boxing fans feel is the best fighter in the super middleweight division in IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (25-0, 20 KO’s). Bute has pretty much every advantage you could imagine going into this fight – fighting in front of a friendly Montreal crowd at the Bell Centre, having the better hand speed and the super boxing ability. The only areas where you can really question the 30-year-old Bute is his power, stamina and chin. Bute is by far the superior fighter compared to Miranda in the other areas.

Miranda looked downright horrible in losing to Andre Ward last year in a one-sided 12 round decision loss in Oakland, California. What Ward showed in that fight is how useless Miranda’s big punching power is by staying out of the way of his big swings. Bute is even more elusive than Ward, and very hard to hit even when his opponents are tearing after him trying to take his head off. It’s going to be even worse for Miranda because he doesn’t have much of a jab.

Basically, Miranda is going to be plowing ahead, walking into shots and trying to get close enough to land his own big punches. Given that Bute retreats at even the slightest hint of danger, it’s pretty clear that Miranda is going to be having a devil of a time trying to land his big power shots. Miranda is going to have to take advantage of any opportunity he can get to try and land a big shot.

If he can get near enough to Bute to grab him, Miranda needs to do that and then try and land a big right hand while at close quarters. Miranda has never been much of a puncher on the inside, so I doubt that he’s going to be able to inflict much damage against Bute if he tries to land while in close. Bute has looked very impressive in his last two fights against Fulgencio Zuniga and Librado Andrade, stopping both of them in the 4th round.

In 2008, Bute has big problems against Andrade, who walked through punishment for 11 round and succeeding in tiring Bute out in the 12th and knocking him down. The fight ended up being marred, though, when the referee seemed to give Bute a long count, enabling him to slowly get back to his feet. Bute was never able to stand on his two feet without leaning against the ropes as the time ran out.

Bute dodged a bullet in that fight, but never the less, he was clearly the better fighter than Andrade in the rematch that took place a year later in November 2009. But Andrade made the blueprint in how to beat Bute by coming forward and pressuring him constantly and forcing Bute to work harder than he wants to. It’s not easy to do because Bute is good at punching on the run, but he’s weaker when he has to move around a lot compared to when he’s able to set his own pace and dictate the fight.

Miranda isn’t a big pressure fighter in the move of Andrade and hasn’t shown to have a great chin. Its doubtful Miranda will be able to mimic the same results that Andrade got in his first fight with Bute. Most likely, Miranda will plod forward slowly and get picked apart by the much quicker Bute.

6 Responses to “Bute vs. Miranda: Edison has a puncher’s chance but that’s about it”