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The fight that was to be the biggest in the history of Canada was somewhat overshadowed by Lucian Bute’s inability to get anything going through most of the contest last night against Jean Pascal at Montreal’s Bell Centre.
It was literally as if the entire game plan for Bute hinged on getting to the 12th round and trying then to knock out Pascal. Would you believe that it almost worked?
The first few rounds were very slow and, to be fair, both fighters knew how much was on the line and both were very cautious. What soon followed, however, was surprising.
It seems that Bute had too much respect for Pascal’s power because he was allowing the native of Haiti to use his swarming style and Bute wasn’t able to counteract or keep up.
It was almost as if Bute was scared of getting knocked out and he just wanted to go the distance with as little damage to his own body as possible.
The last round was sort of a conundrum as Bute was actually counter-punching and landing good body shots on Pascal.
In fact, during the last few seconds of the bout, Pascal’s feet were wobbling underneath him. However, he was saved by the bell and exited Montreal’s Bell Centre with the NABF light heavyweight title in hand.
This was a very frustrating and unsatisfactory finish, because we know that the entire fight could have been like the 12th round.
Instead, now we are left to wonder what could have been.
Is Bute still haunted by the knockout that was handed to him by Carl Froch? Did Bute feel this was his last big payday and he didn’t want to get hurt as he is exiting the sport?
Whatever the reason, Bute decided to keep his best efforts for the last round, and there was an air of nostalgia at the Bell Centre for the fighter that Bute used to be.
This could have been his last big fight here in Montreal and for that we are all grateful for that 12th round to remind us that he was once a great fighter.
In the end, this unanimous decision victory for Pascal means that he gets to choose whether he wants to make more money by agreeing to a rematch with Bute or he may choose the road less traveled and takes on a real challenger in WBO Champion Sergei Kovalev or even his stablemate, WBC Champion Adonis Stevenson.
