By Dan Ambrose: IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (29-0, 24 KO’s) has had things mostly his way for the past three years since first capturing the International Boxing Federation strap in 2008. Bute has dined on the mostly weak opposition that the IBF has ranked in their top 15.

On November 5th, Bute will face 42-year-old Glen Johnson (51-15-2, 35 KO’s) at the Pepsi Coliseum, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. To some boxing fans this looks like just another example of Bute facing an overmatched old guy. But Johnson has a couple of things going for him that Bute’s opposition has been sourly lacking. First off, Johnson can actually take a punch.

Indeed, Johnson is almost impossible to knockout because of his strong chin. Unfortunately, you can’t say that about most of Bute’s opponents in the past few years. Bute has stopped seven out of his last fight opponents and made it look easy.

During that time Bute has fell in love with his uppercut, which he uses all the time now. The opposition hasn’t been schooled in how to stop an uppercut, and it’s been easy for Bute. Johnson knows how to block an uppercut. That’s the bad news for Bute. Johnson not only knows how to block an uppercut, but he can deliver a respectable one of his own.

The other thing that Johnson has going for him is his power. He’s got good power, and he likes to throw a lot of punches. He lost his last fight in the Super Six tournament to Carl Froch by a 12 round majority decision but he connected with at least two to three really hard shots in every round, and had Froch looking worried during the second half of the fight.

Bute’s chin isn’t that great, and I don’t know that he’s going to be able to handle getting hit really hard the way that Johnson will be hitting him in this fight. Bute is getting up there in age and can’t run for the entire fight like he used to. He’s going to have to stand and trade at some point in the fight and it could be bad for him.