Bute-Magee: Another ugly mismatch for Lucian

By Michael Lieberman: IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (27-0, 22 KO’s) faces another one of his over-matched opponents in his next fight on March 19th against Brian Magee (34-3-1, 24 KO’s) at the Bell Centre, in Montreal, Canada.

To say that Bute has been a disappointment as the IBF champion is putting it lightly. Bute, 30, is making a career out of fighting dull opponents and the fact that HBO is showing his fights is equally disappointing.

Bute, for some reason, has been unable to set up interesting fights against guys that boxing fans want to see him face like Kelly Pavlik, Sergio Martinez, Carl Froch, Arthur Abraham, Mikkel Kessler, and Andre Ward. On 3/19, boxing fans will have to settle for watching Bute beat up on the 35-year-old Magee from Ireland.

Magee, the European Boxing Union (EBU) super middleweight champion, has a great looking record, except that the entirety of it is filled with B and C level opponents. If you take away 99% of the fluff opponents that Magee has fought during his entire career, you’re left with only a win over 37-year-old Mads Larsen, which doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot given how old Larsen is now.

Bute could have faced a better opponent than Magee and he should have by now. At 30, Bute is wasting away and not making a mark for himself in the division. It will be a good thing once the Super Six tournament is over so that one of the fighters can put some pressure on Bute to step up and fight one of them. It will be interesting to see whether Bute rises up or decides to continue facing lesser opposition.