By Mark Vester
A crowd of 13,858 filled the Bell Centre in Canada to watch Lucian Bute (22-0, 18KOs) of Montreal retain his IBF super middleweight title by stopping former champ William Joppy (39-5-1) in the tenth round.
The money punch for Bute was the left hand, landing it often throughout the fight. But, Bute dropped Joppy in the ninth after landing a wicked right hand. A series of punches to the head and body forced Joppy to take a knee in the tenth and he was finished off moments later with another barrage of punches. The only fighter to stop Joppy in the past was Felix Trinidad in 2001. Joppy, 37-years-old, had previously gone the distance with Howard Eastman, Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor.
Joppy had fought his last couple of fights at light heavyweight, but dropped down a division for Bute's first defense of the title. Currently the mandatory position is vacant for Bute.
