By Rick Reeno
Sources with knowledge of the details have advised BoxingScene.com that Canadian superstar Lucian Bute (31-2, 24KOs) has aligned himself with powerful manager/adviser Al Haymon.
Despite last year's setback against Jean Pascal in January, Bute is still regarded by most insiders in Canada as the most popular boxer in the country, especially in the Canadian boxing hotbed of Montreal.
Bute's last outing was a decision loss to Pascal in January 2014. He was scheduled to return on December 6th at the Bell Centre, but suffered a back injury in training and was forced to withdraw. After the loss to Pascal, Bute started training with Freddie Roach of the Wild Card Gym.
Although he suffered that recent loss, Bute's drawing power was still evident as the year closed out. While Bute was headlining the December date, the man who beat him, Pascal, was placed underneath as the co-feature.
Besides his worth in Canada, Bute is one of the most popular athletes in the country of his birth, Romania.
Another Canadian star is a part of Haymon's huge stable, WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson.
Haymon's big signing comes on the heels of Golden Boy Promotions' latest acquisition of middleweight puncher David Lemieux, who is popular in the country but not yet at the level of Bute, Pascal or Stevenson. Haymon and Golden Boy Promotions agreed to part ways two weeks ago, with nearly all of Haymon's fighters leaving Oscar De La Hoya's promotional banner.
After signing an army of talent in 2014, Haymon has acquired at least a dozen or more fighters since the start of 2015 and his new boxing series premieres on network television, NBC, on March 7th from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.