By Jake Donovan

A crowd of more than 16,000 poured into the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC, Canada in support of their adopted hometown favorite, Lucian Bute as he defended his portion of the super middleweight title against Librado Andrade.

A memorable night of boxing was anticipated, and the fight delivered, even if for the wrong reasons, as Bute benefitted from some major last minute drama in escaping with a 12-round unanimous decision win.

The capacity crowd sought any excuse to erupt and Bute gave them plenty of reason to roar. A series of one-two’s midway through the opening round provided the first hint of things to come for much of the night. Another important strategy was established early: Bute’s plan to fight from the outside, and smother Andrade the moment he began to creep his way inside.

Andrade tried to make a fight of it in the second, letting his hands go early in the round but finding little success against the technically superior Bute. Less emphasis was placed on scoring opportunities for the transplanted Romanian, using his jab as means to maintain distance while focusing more on defense.

The same pattern held up in the third round. Bute used constant lateral movement to frustrate a plodding Andrade, picking him off with lead left hands from the southpaw stance whenever he was within punching range. Frustration began to set in at rounds end for the challenger, who had to be restrained by the referee in efforts to get in Bute’s face after the bell.

A glimmer of hope came early in the fourth for Andrade. A right hand to the body kept Bute in place long enough to come back with a left hook upstairs, easily his best sequence of the fight to that point. Bute’s punches were thrown from much wider angles in the round, perhaps suggestive of Andrade’s subtle improvement in working his way inside.

Swelling began to form under Bute’s right eye as action picked up in the fifth round. Andrade was gaining success as Bute found himself moving backwards more and more. Right hands were finding Bute’s chin, though he stood up well to Andrade’s power and offered a taste in return. It wasn’t enough to rattle Andrade, but enough to buy the champion time as he tried to figure out a way to regain control of the fight.

Bute’s corner would offer an assist prior to the start of the sixth, when time was called to clean up excess water from the canvas. The old but effective trick appeared to revitalize Bute, who reverted to form, rattling off combinations as Andrade struggled to empty his clip.

It was more of the same in the seventh round, one that saw the action slow for the first time in the fight. Bute returned to shooting combinations straight down the middle, and offering enough movement to prevent Andrade from planting his feet and unloading. The crowd was brought to life late in the round when Bute nailed his foe with a series of head shots, tripling up on the jab before planting several lefts on Andrade’s granite chin.

Rounds eight and nine were equally dominated by Bute, leaving Andrade in a state of desperation as the fight entered double digit rounds. Fatigue was clearly setting in for both fighters, but Bute was able to find ways to rest in between punches, keeping Andrade on the outside and in a state of confusion.

Insult was added to injury when a knockdown was called midway through the round. A left hand knocked Andrade off balance, with a push aiding his fall to the canvas. The call could’ve went either way but the referee chose to administer an eight count, much to the delight of the crowd, who began to sense victory was well within reach.

With the fight seemingly in the bag, Bute played it safe in the championship rounds. Andrade never stopped coming forward, knowing full well that it would take a knockout to turn things around. Bute wasn’t interested in giving him that opportunity, flicking his jab and rattling off flashy combinations while fighting in reverse. Andrade’s failure to work behind a jab in plodding forward allowed Bute to clinch anytime the gap was closed, though he would draw a final warning for excessive holding.

He was given a hell of a lot more than that in the final three minutes, particularly in the closing seconds of the fight.

Chants of “Bu-te” echoed throughout the sold-out arena as the final round began. Bute fought like a man looking to run out the clock, while Andrade desperately sought that one opening that would instantly turn the tide. More than his share of punches found its way upstairs, though Bute weathered the storm – at least for 11 rounds, two minutes and 57 seconds.

Then, it almost happened.

Almost shouldn’t be part of the equation. A more objective referee would’ve easily counted out Bute ten seconds after being lit up by a right hand that sent him crashing to the canvas. Andrade would’ve been rightly rewarded with one of the most dramatic come-from-behind knockout wins in boxing history.

Instead, referee Marlon Wright became part of the story for all of the wrong reasons.

Bute was down and out, but benefitted from a long delay reminiscent of “The Long Count” that came in the Gene Tunney-Jack Dempsey rematch more than 80 years ago. The count began and just reached six, but was interrupted when Wright turned around to scream for Andrade to get back into the neutral corner. How far Andrade drifted was immediately unclear, though Wright walked all the way to center ring, and Andrade still was nowhere within camera range.

Time was called back in, with Wright once again counting six before finishing his count. Bute was on his feet, not taking another punch as the bell sounded immediately thereafter. 

Andrade remained composed, though the same could not be said of head trainer Howard Grant. So enraged with the sequence of events that ended the fight, Grant raced across the ring and shoved the referee in disgust before eventually being restrained by his assistants.

Without the benefit of a bailout knockout, Andrade could do no longer prevent receiving the reminder of all of the preceding rounds he lost as the final scores were announced.

The judges were unanimous in their view of who won the fight, with scores of 117-109, 115-111 and 115-110 all coming in for Bute, who remains undefeated and still with alphabet title in tow. He improves to 23-0 (18KO) overall, making the second successful defense of the title he won from Alejandro Berrio just over a year ago.

For Andrade, it’s the second failed title bid in as many tries. A three-fight losing streak ends as he falls to 27-2 (21KO), with both losses coming at the championship level and on the road.

Andrade fell considerably short in his trip to Copenhagen, Denmark against Mikkel Kessler last March.  However, this loss was clearly a bitterer pill to swallow.

“Yes, he was out, he was completely out,” insisted Andrade of the fight ending sequence, before managing to put things in perspective.

“If there was a way for me to lose, this is how I’d want to lose.”

Undefeated Ronald Hearns has yet to know what it’s like to lose, and never came close to that feeling in a lopsided stoppage win over Paul Clavette in the co-feature.

Perhaps the most intense moments for the undefeated junior middleweight came on the way to the ring, when he was led by his legendary fighting father Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns. It, along with the journey to Montreal, was the closest young Ronald would come to feeling pressure, settling in early and picking up steam with each passing round.

Clavette was in retreat mode as early as the third round, with the first serious hint of an early night coming in the fifth, which was easily Hearns’ best round of the fight.

That was, until the bell rang to start the sixth.

One thing Clavette had going for him prior to the fight was that he’d never before been down. That changed early in what would become the last round of the fight, when a series of right hands pinned him in a corner and eventually forced him to the canvas for a mandatory eight.

It was the only time he’d officially touch down, though he would receive a standing eight count moments later. Given every chance to continue soon thereafter, Clavette offered the reaction of a man no longer able to fend for himself, ultimately prompting a stoppage.

The official time was 2:37 of round six.

Hearns cruises to 21-0 (17KO) with the win, scoring his fourth knockout in as many fights un 2008. There’ s nothing left for him to do this year except play the waiting game.

Plans call for his HBO debut to come next January, presumably against fellow unbeaten John Duddy. That matchup remains contingent upon Duddy not only beating Sam Hill next month, but remaining unscathed by night’s end, no easy task for the Irish bleeder.

It’s back to the drawing board for Clavette, who falls to 14-2-1 (2KO) with the loss, snapping a six-fight win streak. The bout was just the third time in his career that did not last the distance, having gone to the scorecards in 14 straight fights prior to this affair.

Both bouts aired on Showtime’s Shobox series and was presented by Interbox, in association with Golden Boy Promotions and DiBella Entertainment.

Jake Donovan is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .