By Jason Kim: Ireland’s Brian Magee (34-3-1, 24 KO’s) is coming into Saturday’s fight against IBF super middleweight champion (27-0, 22 KO’s) with minimal big fight experience and will be at a tremendous disadvantage in his fight at the Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In the old days, fighters were expected to take on top contenders before taking on a champion.

However, boxing has changed a lot and now it’s not uncommon for fighters to build up impressive looking records against C level opponents and then get a high ranking and a title shot without ever having faced a top 10 contender to get that shot. Magee, the EBU super middleweight champion, is ranked at #5 by the IBF, but has been defending his EBU title against 2nd tier fighters rather than taking on top world class opposition.

Bute says that Magee is the best fighter out there for him. It’s hard to believe that with guys like James DeGale, Carl Froch, Andre Dirrell, Mikkell Kessler around. Bute obviously means that Magee is the best fighter that is available at the moment, but I have my doubts about that. Jean Paul Mendy and Danial Jacobs without be a far better option than to go with Magee in my view. Those guys would have a decent shot at beating Bute, though, and maybe that’s why Magee is seen as the better opponent right now.

Magee isn’t very fast of hand, and doesn’t hit all that hard compared to some of the bigger punchers in the division. He’s easy to hit and tends to stand directly in front of his opponents. In his last three fights, Magee has beaten Stevie McGuire, 38-year-old Mads Larsen and Roman Aramyan in EBU action. It’s going to be a monumental step up in competition for Magee in going from those guys to Bute this Saturday. It’s probably going to be a slaughter and I can’t see the fight going past the 4th round.