by David P. Greisman

For years, Lucian Bute held a world title at super middleweight. Those years were, well, years ago. Bute hasn’t had a belt around his waist since he lost to Carl Froch in 2012.

He had another chance last November, falling short in a battle with James DeGale that showed that Bute had much more left than people had believed. He’ll get one more chance on April 30, when he challenges titleholder Badou Jack in a bout taking place in Washington, D.C., and being broadcast on Showtime.

Pierre Duc, vice president of promoter Interbox, says this card will end with Bute triumphant.

“For those of you who’ve not been exposed to Lucian before, he’s a great fighter. He’s been working extremely hard over the course of the last six to 12 months getting ready for a moment like this again,” Duc said in an April 1 press conference. “He’s got a very long history of fighting great fights and championship wars. Lucian will be ready for this. His training camp is going astonishing well. Lucian is usually more of a gentleman. He’s probably going to say that he wants to do the best that I can. I’m telling you that Lucian is going to be walking away with this belt on April 30. Lucian will pull the upset on April 30.”

Bute hadn’t looked very good in the three and a half years since his May 2012 drubbing at the hands of Froch. He hadn’t fought much either, topping Denis Grachev in November 2012, spending 14 months away before losing a unanimous decision to Jean Pascal in January 2014, and then returning 19 months later with a stoppage of Andrea Di Luisa. And then came the DeGale fight.

Jack saw the DeGale fight and acknowledged that Bute looked good. Bute said he’ll come out victorious if Jack otherwise underestimates him. Bute also acknowledged the help that his new team of trainers have provided in bringing him back.

“I work with the Grant brothers, Otis and Howard. I’m changing some things in my work,” he said. “Psychologically, I’m very strong. My confidence is back 100 percent.”

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com