By Thomas Gerbasi

28 pro fights, 11-plus rounds, years behind the counter at Jack in the Box, and a lifetime of hard work and sacrifice had come down to this. It’s said that before you die, your entire life flashes before your eyes, but it was the opposite for Librado Andrade. As he saw IBF super middleweight titleholder Lucian Bute barely in control of his faculties as he attempted to struggle to his feet after a 12th round knockdown on October 24, 2008, everything flashed before him, but he was about to start a new life, one as a world champion.

“There’s no reason to count,” thought Andrade as he stood in a neutral corner, about to salvage what had been a disappointing performance with a miraculous last second knockout. “He (referee Marlon Wright) is gonna get to eight, he’s gonna see he’s wobbly, and he’s gonna wave it off.”

As predicted, Bute made it to his feet, and he was wobbly. But before Wright could wave it off and complete this improbable Cinderella story, he turned to the neutral corner and screamed at Andrade.

“STAY IN THAT CORNER, GET IN THAT CORNER.”

Andrade had barely moved, but by the time Wright resumed his count on the hometown hero, precious seconds had ticked away on the clock and on Andrade’s dream. The fight was over, and Bute, comfortably ahead, retained his title via scores of 117-109, 115-111, and 115-110.

“Even when the bell rung, I thought he waved it off,” Andrade told BoxingScene, still incredulous at the final sequence of events. “Then I see them celebrating, and I’m like ‘what? I can’t believe this.’ I still can’t believe it, I still go back and say ‘wow, one second.’ But I just take it. I don’t have the belt, I’m not the champion, so I’ve got to keep on dreaming and keep pushing for my dream.”

The furor over Wright’s horrific refereeing job - one that saw him call a dubious tenth round knockdown on Andrade and even get in the challenger’s way on two occasions in the 12th frame as Bute staggered around the ring – was immediate and loud, even earning Andrade’s trainer Howard Grant a three month suspension for shoving Wright. But Andrade wouldn’t receive an immediate rematch. First he would have to get by Vitali Tsypko in an IBF title elimination bout in April, and he did just that, scoring a lopsided 12 round win.

Then it was back to Montreal to prepare for Saturday’s bout at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City. You would expect that it’s a pretty odd place to be for the native of Guanajuato, Mexico’s small town of Jesus Del Monte, but it makes all the sense in the world for the 31-year old, who has been making the trek north of the border to train with Grant for two years now. Oddly enough, the two came together even after Andrade stopped his trainer’s brother, Otis, in seven rounds in 2006.

“After I fought Otis, me, Otis and Howard kept in touch, and after I fought (Mikkel) Kessler (in March of 2007), Howard called me,” recalled Andrade.

“Librado, that wasn’t you when you fought Kessler,” said Grant, a 1988 Olympian for Canada who compiled a 16-2-1 pro record before retiring in 1995. “That wasn’t you at all. You’re tough, but that wasn’t you.”

Andrade, who lost a shutout 12 round decision to Kessler in his first shot at the world title, agreed. At around the same time, his manager, Al Haymon, suggested that it was time to look for a trainer who could take him to the next level of the game, telling him, “Librado, you really need someone to help you the right way. Find a coach that can really help you. This is a great opportunity, and the last thing you want to do is regret anything and not take advantage.”

The first and only call Andrade made was to Canada, and Grant.

“I thought for a while, and I said ‘I know who I’m gonna call,’” said Andrade. “I called Howard and it made sense to me because they fought me and they saw all my mistakes and how they could beat me. I said ‘Howard, how would you like to train me? I know it sounds weird, but I’d really like to come over and have you show me my mistakes. I don’t want somebody to tell me what I do good; I want someone to tell me what I’ve been doing bad. And he was really happy and said he would love to train me.”

Since early 2008, as Andrade prepped for what would be an eighth round stoppage of Robert Stieglitz, he made the trek to Canada two months before every fight, which you would imagine would be quite the culture shock. Not really, says Andrade.

“Being away from the family, that’s the hardest part, but the rest, it doesn’t bother me. Like Howard always tells me, I’m a soldier, I sleep on the floor. (Laughs) The weather doesn’t really affect me much. It’s not like we’re training in the snow. When I first came over, it was in the dead of winter, and he (Grant) couldn’t believe it. But I was eager to learn and I really want to make it here and I want to fight for a long time. This is what I do and I want to improve little by little, even if I have to take big hits and fall down very hard. I want to get up and keep trying. So I came here to Montreal, everything worked out, and so far, so good.”

And a little sidebar to this whole situation is that Andrade has been practically adopted by Canadian fight fans, with those who packed the Bell Centre in Montreal for the Tsypko fight in April going nuts with every punch he threw. It’s almost like the way Canadian fans took in Romania’s Bute, with Saturday’s bout in Quebec already sold out for this clash of ‘hometown favorites.’

“The fans are really, really good here, and they’re very fair,” said Andrade. “They know what they see, they know what they’re looking at, and they like good fights. They identify themselves with me and I may not be the best fighter in the world, the pound for pound king, but they know I’m gonna make a good fight and they know I’m gonna put my heart there, and that’s what they identify with. They have good hearts and they know I’m coming to give a good show even though their guy is the one that I’m fighting. I’m very thankful for them.”

That’s the warm and toasty stuff. Behind that is the fact that there will be a fight this weekend, and Andrade has to find a way to reverse what happened in the first 11 rounds of his first bout with Bute. Or does he, considering that the last thing Bute remembers about their fight is being battered around the ring in the 12th round before being saved by the bell? Andrade wants him to re-live that final sequence immediately.

“I think he can’t forget that night,” said Andrade. “People that have translated the newspaper for me when I went to the food court to eat, and they said that Bute said he can’t sleep well until he beats me. It’s good that he has that on his mind because he knows deep inside that he lost. Even his fans tell him that he lost, so I feel really good going into the fight. I like my chances. I knew I wasn’t going to win a decision with a guy that boxes very well like him. What I had going for me was to knock him out, and I did knock him out, and he didn’t finish the fight on his feet. That makes me very happy and it motivates me even more. I’m gonna leave that behind, forget about it, and I’m gonna start fresh. I spent 12 rounds with him at his best, and I took his best, and he has not seen my best. Little by little I’m gonna rewind that tape, and little by little we’re gonna play it again.”

And that’s the interesting thing about this fight. Andrade is as no-frills as it comes in the ring, and the unbeaten and ultra-talented Bute will outbox him every day of the week and twice on Sunday. But what about the relentless pressure of Andrade? What about the prospect of him putting his sledgehammers on Bute, albeit more often, the second time around? This may not be a fight for these two standout 168-pounders, but a race against the clock. How long can Bute stay ahead of Andrade, who received praise from UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre recently for his presence in the ring, something that can un-nerve the staunchest of competitors, especially if you have to do it more than once.

“It’s a pleasure working with Georges when he comes around, and I spar with him, and he says ‘Librado, your presence in the ring is so tough. From outside it looks easy, but you’re so tough and you give so much pressure just being there,’” said Andrade. “It makes me happy. I’ve got to have something to be at this level. It’s not like ‘oh, this guy gets hit too much’ or ‘this guy’s too slow’. I gotta do something right.”

Andrade, as classy and self-effacing as they come, laughs, and he’s at ease before the biggest fight of his life, with little talk about the Super Six tournament or what will happen after November 28th. All that matters is winning Round 13 and putting that title belt around his waist.

“The main focus here is to become a world champion,” he said. “It would be a big, big night in general for me. I would be the first Mexican to become a super middleweight world champion and I don’t see anybody following me soon enough, so I’ll be the only one for a while, and that makes me very proud.”

Even prouder would be his mother, who was always there for Andrade and his brother, Enrique Ornelas, supporting them every step of the way, even through the rough times. And if you hear Andrade talk about it, maybe that’s just where he gets his renowned toughness from.

“I think it’s from where we come from, and it’s something our mother imprinted in us,” he said. “My mother never gave up on us. I remember in high school, our mom used to take us lunch. And you know kids in high school, we don’t even want to see our friends hanging out with their mom, and stuff like that.”

He smiles at the recollection, then pauses before continuing.

“So this is to make my mom proud,” he said. “To let her know that everything she sacrificed for us, and did for us, was for a reason.”