By Cliff Rold

Impressive.  

Some wins in boxing don’t need anything more than a single word.  For IBF Super Middleweight titlist Lucian Bute (25-0, 20 KO), impressive might not feel like enough.  As was the case earlier this year when Shane Mosley knocked out Antonio Margarito at Welterweight, there was something about Bute’s performance which could make jaws drop.

Librado Andrade (28-3, 21 KO) had been dropped before.  Yusaf Mack turned the trick a couple of years ago.  Andrade got up and finished Mack and had shown the sort of reliable combination of grit and beard to make one think he might never get stopped.  He, like Margarito, had the sort of Tex Cobb aura of toughness which always impresses.

Even Cobb failed to finish once.

Let’s go to the report card. 

Grades
Pre-Fight: Speed – Bute B+; Andrade B-/Post: A-; B-
Pre-Fight: Power – Bute B; Andrade B+/Post: A-; Andrade B+
Pre-Fight: Defense – Bute B; Andrade C/Post: B+; C-
Pre-Fight: Intangibles – Andrade A; Bute B+/Post: A; A

Given only four rounds to judge, there isn’t a ton to assess in the contest.  It went much as the first bout did with a dramatically different ending.  In the first two rounds, Bute controlled the distance and boxed to comfortable winning frames while Andrade, the action slowly developing.  The physical changes, from bout one to the rematch, were subtle, but there were some.

Bute’s hands looked a hair quicker and the titlist came into the contest in phenomenal shape.  He was also more assertive than he had been the first time, stepping into hard shots early and stinging Andrade in round three.  It wasn’t a huge moment, but there was an early wobble of Andrade there.

As he always does, Andrade opened up more as soon as he got hit and was able to land some stiff shots.  In the first contest, Andrade’s impact on Bute seemed sudden at the end but was the product of Andrade’s dogged determination.  He was willing to land when, and where, he could for a payoff later on.  Andrade has heavy hands.  If he can catch a man and end things, he will.  He fights in a way which says he expects to get there eventually.

When the bell rang to begin round four, there was no reason to think it was impossible for Andrade’s game plan to work.

Then Bute landed a blind left hook to the chin and set up the shocker.  Andrade rose from the head shot and, while clearly dazed, seemed well on his way to finishing the round.  It turned out his chin would not fail him.  His gut did.

And that was the great irony of it all.  Andrade’s style is all guts, his courage never questionable.  But the right shot is the right shot, and Bute landed it to the body to send Andrade to his knees for a critical ten seconds.

Looking Ahead

Prior to the start of the “Super Six” tournament at 168 lbs., the glaring omission from the field was Bute.  It still is.  The Romanian born, Canadian-based titlist was quickly closing on Mikkel Kessler’s claim to the best in class and is the powerful point of debate against Kessler’s conqueror, Andre Ward, for the top spot now.

Bute won’t get a chance to prove it in the tournament.  He can continue to post wins outside which could one day set up a hell of a showdown with the tournament winner.  He defeated top ten contender Sakio Bika on his way to his belt.  He could add another in American Alan Green (29-1, 20 KO); it would be a good, hard fight for both men.  Bute could also look the holder of the WBO belt after Robert Stieglitz (36-2, 22 KO) defends against Edison Miranda (33-4, 29 KO) early next year.  He’d be favored over either but extra hardware could help his position as the super seventh.

There is also Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (35-1, 31 KO) if Pavlik chooses to move up in weight before facing Paul Williams.  A move to Light Heavyweight, where Chad Dawson and fellow Canadian star Jean Pascal reside, would be intriguing as well.  Bute has options, and they are options worth following by any boxing fan.

For Andrade, it may be the end or close to it.  As tough as he has been, the steady wash of punishment he has been willing to take may finally be breaking his body down.  It would be a shame to see an honorable warrior, the collector of time, be unable to remember the time he’s spent in the ring.  Andrade may not have been great in the broad sense of the term but he gave great efforts and earned what should be lasting respect for them.

Cliff’s Notes…

Aside from the main event, there was the brutal heist on the undercard.  While not graded, it is worth a mention.  Lightweight Ali Funeka (30-2-3, 25 KO) should have won the vacant IBF belt.  That he did not was a pox on boxing’s house in an otherwise excellent fight.

For fans who forget the difference between a close, debatable decision and an outright crime against a fighter, Saturday was the reminder.  Funeka won, at minimum, eight rounds versus Joan Guzman (29-0-1, 17 KO).  He laid an absolute whipping on him down the stretch. 

The sport’s voices should be talking only about a great performance and a gutsy loss, but instead must note unfathomable scoring.  Funeka deserved better; so did Guzman.

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com