By Dan Ambrose: IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute 27-0, 22 KO’s) is in superb condition for his fight against number #8 ranked contender Brian Magee (34-1, 24 KO’s) on March 19th at the Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Bute, 31, faces yet another one of the less than interesting opponents for him. Bute wants to make a name for himself and not be considered a forgotten champion, but he’s not helping himself by taking on the more obscure fighters in the division.

If Bute doesn’t start stepping it up, he may find his career following in the footsteps of WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm, whose time as champion has been filled with lackluster title defenses against no name opponents. Bute has run over most of his opponents since capturing the title in 2007 after winning the IBF title with an 11th round TKO over Alejandro Berrio.

Boxing fans have been literally begging for Bute to take on someone interesting like Mikkel Kessler, Carl Froch, Andre Ward or Arthur Abraham since then. Bute has answered the fans by facing guys like 38-year-old William Joppy, a beaten up Edison Miranda, Jesse Brinkley, Fulgencio Zuniga, and Librado Andrade. On March 19th, Bute will be able to add the 35-year-old Magee to that growing list. Magee is a decent fighter but you’d be hard pressed to find a name on his resume that would suggest that he can even be competitive with Bute on 3/19.

The problem that Magee has is that he lacks experience against upper level opposition. Magee has been fighting for 12 years as a pro, yet the best opposition he’s faced during that time has been 2nd tier fighters like Tony Oakey, Mads Larsen and Roman Aramyan. Frankly, that’s good enough for Magee to have much of a chance against Bute. It’s sad that Bute is even fighting a guy with as little experience against quality fighters like Magee.