By Dan Ambrose: Right about now, IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (27-0, 22 KO’s) is probably having a hard time getting his own loyal fans interested in watching any of his fights because of how dreadful Bute’s opposition has been since he picked up the International Boxing Federation title in 2007.
The Super Six tournament has acted like a giant vacuum cleaner by siphoning off the only good fighters in the super middleweight division. With them gone, Bute has had to be satisfied with beating the likes of Librado Andrade, Edison Miranda and Jesse Brinkley.
You can now add 35-year-old #8 ranked Brian Magee (34-3-1, 24 KO’s) to that list because he’s Bute’s next victim on March 19th at the Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Magee is a decent fighter, but not a top 20 fighter in the division in my view and certainly not someone deserving to be ranked #1 WBA, #2 WBC, #8 IBF and #14 WBO.
Those are mighty inflated rankings given that Magee’s bests wins of his 12 year pro career have come against Tony Oakey and Mads Larsen. Those are the extent of Magee’s quality wins. When he stepped it up and fought Robin Reid, Vitaliy Tsypko and Carl Froch, Magee ended up getting beaten.
This is why you have to ignore Magee’s ranking and go by just how he looks as a fighter in some of his bouts. And let me tell you, he’s not very impressive. Bute should be able to win this fight by an early knockout or a one-sided beating.
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