By Jim Dower: Photo credit Tom Casino./Showtime – IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (28-0, 23 KO’s) dominated and stopped EBU super middleweight champion Brian Magee (34-4-1, 24 KO’s) in the 10th round in a pretty much one-sided fight at the Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Bute, 31, wore Magee down, knocking him down three times – once in the 6th, another time in the 7th and a final time in the 10th. The end came from a big uppercut from Bute in the 10th which leveled Magee. The bout was stopped at 2:04 of the round.

Bute is hoping to fight Mikkel Kessler next if the fight can be put together. If not, then Bute hopes to face the winner of the Super Six tourney, which will likely be Andre Ward. The way that Bute fought tonight, it’s hard to see Bute beating Ward. Bute is a good fighter but doesn’t appear to be on the same level as Ward and would have problems with his speed and superior inside fighting ability. Kessler would also be a big problem for Bute because he can punch and Bute has been shown to have problems in the past when getting hit hard.

With this win, it’s hoped that Bute will finally start taking on better opposition after tending to face a lot of less than stellar opponents for the past three years. This was only the second time in Magee’s career he fought a top tier fighter. Boxing fans want to see Bute fighting high quality fighters, not guys that have no chance coming into the fight. Bute won a questionable 12 round decision over Librado Andrade in their first fight in 2008 after receiving a long count when Andrade failed to go back to the neutral corner after dropping Bute in the 12th.

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