Bute vs Andrade Early Results: McEwen, Thurman Win
by T.K. Stewart
QUEBEC CITY – It's a raucous evening here with a full-house crowd that has showed early up to take in every fight on the card. The atmosphere is absolutely tremendous – the folks from Quebec really know how to throw a fight party. Coors Light has sponsored dancing girls in the aisles and the place is filled from floor to ceiling.
I'll say this - the undercard was much better than the one I was forced to sit through two Saturdays ago at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
In a scheduled ten-round junior lightweight scrap, huge fan-favorite Pier-Olivier Cote, a wonderful performing 130-pounder from Charlesbourg, Quebec (a suburb of Quebec City) with a record of 8-0, 6 KOs, stepped up to scratch against Jason “Too Sweet” Hayward, also 130, from St. John's, Newfoundland. Hayward brought a gritty record of 6-7, 2 KOs to the dance, and for what it's worth, he had one of the best personalized ring entrance songs I've ever heard.
Hayward was able to absorb a tremendous amount of punishment from Cote, who fights with a style similar to that of Zab Judah, Andre Ward and Roy Jones, Jr. Cote is light on his feet, quick with his hands and his speed serves as his defense. He is the total package from top-to-bottom and he can absolutely go places on the world-class level at 130 or 135-pounds. He was able to pepper Hayward with left jabs and straight rights and he mixed in nice shots to the body. Hayward did just enough to keep himself in the fight and he did a good job of utilizing a Micky Ward-type defense. Cote, who is 25-years-old, emptied his arsenal in the ninth (he has a beautiful right uppercut) but it wasn't enough to put the stubborn Hayward away. Scores after ten were unanimous for Cote at 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91.
In a rugged middleweight affair slated for eight rounds, highly-touted prospect Craig McEwan, 161, from across the pond in Edinburgh, Scotland with a record of 16-0, 9 KOs (via Freddie Roach's Wildcard Gym in Hollywood, California) met up with James Parison, also 161, from Chula Vista, California, who was similarly undefeated, coming in at 12-0, 3 KOs.
Roach was not in McEwan's corner tonight as he is currently overseas assisting Amir Khan in preparation for his WBA 140-pound title defense against Dmitriy Salita next weekend in England.
McEwan, a southpaw with respectable power, repeatedly hammered Parison with straight lefts throughout. A big, strong 160-pounder, McEwan keeps his hands too low and he needs a lot more in terms of overall development. His defense is his most glaringly deficiency and Parison was able to nail him whenever he decided to open up. McEwan's offensive-minded style reminds me a bit of Kelly Pavlik, but he is not as gifted with speed. Unless McEwan learns to move his head and keep his hands up, he will be absolute fodder for the world's top middleweights. Although he has a serviceable right hand, his left requires much more work.
McEwan was cut over the right eye around the fifth and as the rounds wore on it was Parison, who bled from the nose, that looked more like the Golden Boy Promotions protege. The fight ended up going the full route and in the end the judges had it unanimous for McEwan at 79-73, 78-74 and 77-75.
In a welterweight scrap scheduled for six rounds, Kevin Bizier, 145 ¾ from Saint Emile, Quebec, with a perfect ledger of 6-0, 3 KOs, made short work of Patrick Cape, 145 ½, all the way from Little Canada, Minnesota, with a spotty report card of 6-8, 3 KOs. Bizier absolutely overwhelmed the hapless Cape and dropped him twice before the referee was forced to step in and rescue him after a minute of round one.
The opener featured an eight-rounder with welterweights Keith Thurman, 147 ½, from balmy Clearwater, Florida, with a perfect career record of 10-0, 10 KOs. He went up against Leonardo Rojas, 149, from down the road here in chilly Montreal, who showed up with a mark of 7-8-3, 2 KOs. Rojas was outclassed from the beginning. He was cut over the left eye near the end of the first round and was tagged repeatedly with left hooks and right hands. He ended up going down from an uppercut in the second round. He beat the count but was soon overwhelmed and the referee stopped it at 2:07 of the 2nd round. Thurman remains perfect and continues forward.
E-mail: tkstewartboxing@gmail.com