Lucian Bute

[JazMerkin]

A hell of a lot of better 168 pounders out there right now. The division is one of the strongest in the sport right now

kessler, abraham, froch, ward, dirrell and pascal all take bute if you ask me

If you think they all beat Bute then you have seen very very limited footage of Bute....Bute has more power then given credit for. He is awkward but not in an uncontrolled sense, he has great speed not RJJ SMW speed but certainly more then Froch, AA, Kessler....Dirrell is faster but not the finisher Bute is and not as accurate.....He spent the early part of his career comfortably at LHW so no one in the SMW could be considered a size problem for him...

Bute is the real deal....Make no mistakes about it...Right njow IMO the best fight in the division assuming Ward can keep up the momentum he started in the Kessler fight is Ward/Bute and it is a Pick em with the assumption the Kessler fight is not Wards swan song

I am a fan of the guy for sure....Sat behind him at the Froch/Taylor fight...He seemed very unimpressed and was very vocal on how the outcome of that fight would be if they ever met

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWEhCEUJAL8&feature=fvst

I agree in the main. He's a much better puncher than people give him in credit for, particularly with his hooks to the body as demonstrated against Andrade.

I actually think Abraham is the toughest matchup for him, despite the body-punching skills. I think that Bute is vulnerable to a counter left hook from an orthodox fighter. Abraham explodes out with his and when Dirrell with all his athleticism was missing this by the skin of his teeth throughout their fight, I feel Bute would get caught.

I feel Dirrell & Abraham are 50/50 fights, I'd favour them to beat him marginally. I think Ward sets himself up for trouble against southpaws with the way he just holds his jab out as a measuring stick.

Bute would beat Kessler by decision similar to the Calzaghe fight & he would break Froch down in 4-5 rounds imo.

[DaxxKahn]

A hell of a lot of better 168 pounders out there right now. The division is one of the strongest in the sport right now

kessler, abraham, froch, ward, dirrell and pascal all take bute if you ask me

If you think they all beat Bute then you have seen very very limited footage of Bute....Bute has more power then given credit for. He is awkward but not in an uncontrolled sense, he has great speed not RJJ SMW speed but certainly more then Froch, AA, Kessler....Dirrell is faster but not the finisher Bute is and not as accurate.....He spent the early part of his career comfortably at LHW so no one in the SMW could be considered a size problem for him...

Bute is the real deal....Make no mistakes about it...Right njow IMO the best fight in the division assuming Ward can keep up the momentum he started in the Kessler fight is Ward/Bute and it is a Pick em with the assumption the Kessler fight is not Wards swan song

I am a fan of the guy for sure....Sat behind him at the Froch/Taylor fight...He seemed very unimpressed and was very vocal on how the outcome of that fight would be if they ever met

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWEhCEUJAL8&feature=fvst

I agree in the main. He's a much better puncher than people give him in credit for, particularly with his hooks to the body as demonstrated against Andrade.

I actually think Abraham is the toughest matchup for him, despite the body-punching skills. I think that Bute is vulnerable to a counter left hook from an orthodox fighter. Abraham explodes out with his and when Dirrell with all his athleticism was missing this by the skin of his teeth throughout their fight, I feel Bute would get caught.

I feel Dirrell & Abraham are 50/50 fights, I'd favour them to beat him marginally. I think Ward sets himself up for trouble against southpaws with the way he just holds his jab out as a measuring stick.

Bute would beat Kessler by decision similar to the Calzaghe fight & he would break Froch down in 4-5 rounds imo.

Good assessments......I am in no way trying to act as though Bute walks through any of these guys because the SMW division is stacked right now...As for fighting AA that is NEVER a fight easy to pick...I still don't think we learned anything new about AA in the Dirrell fight except he came in and was surprised by the speed....AA has the ability to beat anyone in or around SMW with one shot landed correct....Plus the guy gets stronger as the fight wears on....

Just I in no way can comfortably say any of then beats Bute....I am still not exactly sure why he was not in the Super 6?....I think it is because he had contract obligations when the tourney was signed....Could be wrong though..

Anyone know exactly why?

[JazMerkin]

If you think they all beat Bute then you have seen very very limited footage of Bute....Bute has more power then given credit for. He is awkward but not in an uncontrolled sense, he has great speed not RJJ SMW speed but certainly more then Froch, AA, Kessler....Dirrell is faster but not the finisher Bute is and not as accurate.....He spent the early part of his career comfortably at LHW so no one in the SMW could be considered a size problem for him...

Bute is the real deal....Make no mistakes about it...Right njow IMO the best fight in the division assuming Ward can keep up the momentum he started in the Kessler fight is Ward/Bute and it is a Pick em with the assumption the Kessler fight is not Wards swan song

I am a fan of the guy for sure....Sat behind him at the Froch/Taylor fight...He seemed very unimpressed and was very vocal on how the outcome of that fight would be if they ever met

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWEhCEUJAL8&feature=fvst

I agree in the main. He's a much better puncher than people give him in credit for, particularly with his hooks to the body as demonstrated against Andrade.

I actually think Abraham is the toughest matchup for him, despite the body-punching skills. I think that Bute is vulnerable to a counter left hook from an orthodox fighter. Abraham explodes out with his and when Dirrell with all his athleticism was missing this by the skin of his teeth throughout their fight, I feel Bute would get caught.

I feel Dirrell & Abraham are 50/50 fights, I'd favour them to beat him marginally. I think Ward sets himself up for trouble against southpaws with the way he just holds his jab out as a measuring stick.

Bute would beat Kessler by decision similar to the Calzaghe fight & he would break Froch down in 4-5 rounds imo.

Good assessments......I am in no way trying to act as though Bute walks through any of these guys because the SMW division is stacked right now...As for fighting AA that is NEVER a fight easy to pick...I still don't think we learned anything new about AA in the Dirrell fight except he came in and was surprised by the speed....AA has the ability to beat anyone in or around SMW with one shot landed correct....Plus the guy gets stronger as the fight wears on....

Just I in no way can comfortably say any of then beats Bute....I am still not exactly sure why he was not in the Super 6?....I think it is because he had contract obligations when the tourney was signed....Could be wrong though..

Anyone know exactly why?

He was offered the spot, but he or InterBox turned it down for HBO exposure. Made sense as they were mandated into an Andrade rematch, which he made the most of. Assuming they both win this weekend, I suspect HBO are looking to set up a fight with Pavlik.

I differ in that I think Bute would walk through Froch. He'd do a mixture of the late rounds of the Dirrell-Froch fight & the early rounds of Froch-Taylor, but he'd make sure to finish him when he had him hurt. If you've got the power to drop Andrade, you can definitely do Froch.

[CFH]

If you think they all beat Bute then you have seen very very limited footage of Bute....Bute has more power then given credit for. He is awkward but not in an uncontrolled sense, he has great speed not RJJ SMW speed but certainly more then Froch, AA, Kessler....Dirrell is faster but not the finisher Bute is and not as accurate.....He spent the early part of his career comfortably at LHW so no one in the SMW could be considered a size problem for him...

Bute is the real deal....Make no mistakes about it...Right njow IMO the best fight in the division assuming Ward can keep up the momentum he started in the Kessler fight is Ward/Bute and it is a Pick em with the assumption the Kessler fight is not Wards swan song

I am a fan of the guy for sure....Sat behind him at the Froch/Taylor fight...He seemed very unimpressed and was very vocal on how the outcome of that fight would be if they ever met

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWEhCEUJAL8&feature=fvst

I agree in the main. He's a much better puncher than people give him in credit for, particularly with his hooks to the body as demonstrated against Andrade.

I actually think Abraham is the toughest matchup for him, despite the body-punching skills. I think that Bute is vulnerable to a counter left hook from an orthodox fighter. Abraham explodes out with his and when Dirrell with all his athleticism was missing this by the skin of his teeth throughout their fight, I feel Bute would get caught.

I feel Dirrell & Abraham are 50/50 fights, I'd favour them to beat him marginally. I think Ward sets himself up for trouble against southpaws with the way he just holds his jab out as a measuring stick.

Bute would beat Kessler by decision similar to the Calzaghe fight & he would break Froch down in 4-5 rounds imo.

Good assessments......I am in no way trying to act as though Bute walks through any of these guys because the SMW division is stacked right now...As for fighting AA that is NEVER a fight easy to pick...I still don't think we learned anything new about AA in the Dirrell fight except he came in and was surprised by the speed....AA has the ability to beat anyone in or around SMW with one shot landed correct....Plus the guy gets stronger as the fight wears on....

Just I in no way can comfortably say any of then beats Bute....I am still not exactly sure why he was not in the Super 6?....I think it is because he had contract obligations when the tourney was signed....Could be wrong though..

Anyone know exactly why?

Because he had already agreed to rematch Andrade and I think his contract with HBO also had something to do with it.

[DaxxKahn]

I agree in the main. He's a much better puncher than people give him in credit for, particularly with his hooks to the body as demonstrated against Andrade.

I actually think Abraham is the toughest matchup for him, despite the body-punching skills. I think that Bute is vulnerable to a counter left hook from an orthodox fighter. Abraham explodes out with his and when Dirrell with all his athleticism was missing this by the skin of his teeth throughout their fight, I feel Bute would get caught.

I feel Dirrell & Abraham are 50/50 fights, I'd favour them to beat him marginally. I think Ward sets himself up for trouble against southpaws with the way he just holds his jab out as a measuring stick.

Bute would beat Kessler by decision similar to the Calzaghe fight & he would break Froch down in 4-5 rounds imo.

Good assessments......I am in no way trying to act as though Bute walks through any of these guys because the SMW division is stacked right now...As for fighting AA that is NEVER a fight easy to pick...I still don't think we learned anything new about AA in the Dirrell fight except he came in and was surprised by the speed....AA has the ability to beat anyone in or around SMW with one shot landed correct....Plus the guy gets stronger as the fight wears on....

Just I in no way can comfortably say any of then beats Bute....I am still not exactly sure why he was not in the Super 6?....I think it is because he had contract obligations when the tourney was signed....Could be wrong though..

Anyone know exactly why?

Because he had already agreed to rematch Andrade and I think his contract with HBO also had something to do with it.

Thats what I had figured...I had said that in the beginning of the Tourney when someone else asked the question but was not positive

[CFH]

Good assessments......I am in no way trying to act as though Bute walks through any of these guys because the SMW division is stacked right now...As for fighting AA that is NEVER a fight easy to pick...I still don't think we learned anything new about AA in the Dirrell fight except he came in and was surprised by the speed....AA has the ability to beat anyone in or around SMW with one shot landed correct....Plus the guy gets stronger as the fight wears on....

Just I in no way can comfortably say any of then beats Bute....I am still not exactly sure why he was not in the Super 6?....I think it is because he had contract obligations when the tourney was signed....Could be wrong though..

Anyone know exactly why?

Because he had already agreed to rematch Andrade and I think his contract with HBO also had something to do with it.

Thats what I had figured...I had said that in the beginning of the Tourney when someone else asked the question but was not positive

I think if it wasn't for the controversy surrounding the end of the first Andrade fight he would have found a way to get involved in the Super 6, but I don't know how binding his HBO contract would have been.

[DaxxKahn]

HMMM....Especially with HBO...They can be real fickle over there...He would have probably found a way around it like you said but still at what price in the long run...

[Fenster]

The Super Six wouldn't have been able to play the USA-vs-Europe angle with Bute... then again he is really a Romanian. Sub that Euro in now