Boxing Preview: Lucian Bute vs. William Joppy

After a rocky road to winning a world title, Quebec based Romanian Lucian Bute now is now going to kick his feet back and engage in an easy money fight. This Friday evening, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, the unbeaten southpaw takes on America veteran William Joppy in what is an awful first defence of his IBF super-middleweight crown.

But, will the 14,000 or so Canadian fans that will cram into the arena on Friday night care, or even realise, that Bute’s opponent, despite being a three time WBA middleweight champion, is over half a decade past his best and not beaten anyone of note since he picked up a much disputed decision over Howard Eastman in 2001?

It’s doubtful.

Despite hailing from Galati, Romania, Bute has possibly the biggest and most passionate fan base in the whole of Canada and, as they have proved in the past, they will turn out in their droves to see their man perform no matter what level of opposition he’s in against. Bute has been attracting over 10,000 fans to his fights since he was he was fighting third tier super-middleweights such as Lolenga Mock and James Obede Toney.

Bute, 21-0 (17), is only 27 years old and, although he now holds an alphabet title and has a large fan base to please, he is the first to admit that he is still developing as a fighter and is not quite ready for the Calzaghe’s and Kessler’s of this world. That said, he is widely regarded as the man who will take over the 168 Ib reigns if and when Messrs. Calzaghe and Kessler move north to light-heavyweight.

Since turning pro, under the guidance of top Canadian trainer Stéphan Larouche, the tough Romanian has been learning his trade steadily, taking on a mix of different fighters and styles. He beat decent opposition, like former world title challengers Andre Thysse and Kabary Salem, but the fight that really proved he could mix it in the upper echelons of the division came last June when he outpointed Cameroonian hard case Sakio Bika.

As we all should know, Bika, who has since gone on to win the third series of ESPN’s boxing contest The Contender, provides a hard night’s work for any fighter. That night, also at the Bell Centre, Bute came through some difficult early rounds before eventually finding his game and dominating the remainder of the contest on way to a unanimous decision victory.

In his last fight, Bute won his IBF title by beating the lightly regarded champion Alejandro Berrio. With 1: 36 remaining in the eleventh round, he backed the heavy handed Colombian into the corner the ring before rocking his head back with two hard left hands and a sickening uppercut that forced the referee, Marlon Wright, to step in and stop the action.

Neither Bika or Berrio were ranked in Ring magazine’s top ten when Bute fought them but these were tough fights, so is the Romanian champion now entitled to an easy first defence?

Well, I’m sure we’d all rather see him in against a more prime opponent, but so called “gimme” defences seem to have become part and parcel of modern boxing. Hell, other great super-middles like Roy Jones and Joe Calzaghe have had them so why shouldn’t Bute?

37 year old William Joppy comes in the fight on the back of a five fight winning streak but the reality is that those wins have come against men who can, at best, only be described as club fighters with losing records.

Last time out, Joppy, 39-4-1 (30), stopped Ohio’s Etienne Whitaker in one round. 35 year old Whitaker went into that bout having lost 16 of his previous 17 fights, 10 of which by way of knockout.

In his fight before Whitaker, Joppy also won in the opening round. He beat Virgil McClendon, a 42 year old who had not has a W put on his record for five years.

These are hardly the type of fighters that would prepare a man for a world title tilt against a fast handed southpaw.

The last meaningful fight Joppy engaged in was back in the December 2004 when he was dropped and outboxed in twelve one-sided rounds by the then still developing Jermain Taylor.

As mentioned earlier in this preview, the Maryland based fighter’s last notable win was way back in November 2001 when he claimed the WBA middleweight title for the third time with a majority points win over the “Battersea Bomber” Howard Eastman. Joppy was knocked down in that fight also and many observers felt that the verdict should have gone Eastman’s way.

So what does Joppy bring to Bute’s, and his promoters Interbox’s, table?

Name recognition. Nothing more, nothing less. The simple truth is, no matter what their current fighting state is, a former world champion’s name always looks good on a boxer’s resumé.

Joppy, however, sees things differently. He believes that he still has something to offer top level boxing and intends on pulling off a big upset. “I am not coming to Montreal as a tourist and anybody who thinks I’m a has-been or that I am easy prey better re-evaluate their thinking.” He said recently. “I won my last five fights by knockout and my experience will serve me well against the young champion. Quebec boxing fans will see a great fight but also a nasty surprise!”

Verdict: Given the amount of years that have passed since William Joppy was at his peak, anything less than a knockout win for Bute will be an immense disappointment and would allow the few naysayers that exist to continue to question the Romanian’s long term credentials. I see Bute stopping the old man in eight rounds or less.