By Jason Kim: IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (27-0, 22 KO’s) has yet another dull title defense in his next fight when he takes on number #8 ranked International Boxing Federation contender 35-year-old Brian Magee (34-3-1, 24 KO’s) on March 19th at the Bell Centre, in Montreal, Canada. Bute, 30, is literally aging as he fights one sub part contender after another without attempting to break out of the mold and stepping up and facing someone that can actually fight and perhaps test him a little.

Bute seems to be doing just the minimum every time out in picking unexciting contenders like Jesse Brinkley, Librado Andrade, Fugencio Zuniga, Edison Miranda and now the 35-year-old Magee. Bute should have faced Kelly Pavlik, Bernard Hopkins, Carl Froch, Paul Williams, Sergio Martinez, Dimitriy Pirog, Chad Dawson, Jean Pascal or Tavoris Cloud a long time ago rather than the Brinkleys and the Zunigas.

After Bute finishes destroying Magee, he really needs to try and fight someone who can really test him. It would be sad if Bute’s entire career is spent just fighting the weaker contenders that the IBF has ranked. Instead of looking to get a good money fight and prove that he is the best fighter in the division. I think Bute was the best fighter at one point, but his skills are starting to deteriorate with age and the soft competition that’s being fed to him fight after fight. Right now, I see Bute ranked behind Andre Ward, Froch, Mikkel Kessler and Glen Johnson. Bute should fight one of those guys as soon as possible before he gets much older.