What do you guys think about this fight: Lucian Bute vs Zsolt Erdei at 175?

Berrio had already been knocked out 4 times by marginal fighters before facing Bute, it's not even worth arguing about. William Joppy hadn't actually made the weight at 168 lbs or fought a single ranked contender at 168 in 3 years when Bute offered him a title shot that he had no business getting. Fulgencion Zuniga? Yep, Bute handpicked him too. The same guy who had lost to Daniel Santos at 154 and was TKO'd by Pavlik at 160 somehow ended up becoming a handpicked undeserving challenger to Bute at 168. Andrade is the one decent win he has and he arguably lost the first fight. Notice anything these guys have in common? Like maybe the fact that they are very slow, only move in straight lines and block punches with their faces? Zuniga was a tune up fight to build for the Andrade fight. Joppy was garbage, hence why I didn't list him. Berrio was knocked out by Stieglitz (avenged) and shit fighters early in his career. The fact is, Berrio was coming in off the best wins of his career and Bute absolutely destroyed him. Even if you think the guys that Bute beat are shit, it is a lot better then Erdei's resume. I can do what you did to Bute's resume to Erdei's too: Gonzalez (Old as hell, got a fluke win over DM who was also old.) Frag (Old as hell, lost to David Haye who is shit according to you, so why does it matter?) Garay (He's so shit that he lost to Chris Henry in 1 round. Erdei barely beat this bum twice) Mendoza (Lost to Jeff Lacy. Nuff said. 160 was also his weight class) Ulrich (Lost to Adamek by KO a lot sooner) And like I said before, they might be one dimensional, but some of those sluggers (Mainly Andrade and Bika) are good one dimensional.

Berrio wasn't washed up at all. Coming off wins of Yusaf Mack and current WBO champ Robert Stieglitz (Avenged a previous loss too), he banked in his best wins of his career before losing to Bute. Berrio had already been knocked out 4 times by marginal fighters before facing Bute, it's not even worth arguing about. William Joppy hadn't actually made the weight at 168 lbs or fought a single ranked contender at 168 in 3 years when Bute offered him a title shot that he had no business getting. Fulgencion Zuniga? Yep, Bute handpicked him too. The same guy who had lost to Daniel Santos at 154 and was TKO'd by Pavlik at 160 somehow ended up becoming a handpicked undeserving challenger to Bute at 168. Andrade is the one decent win he has and he arguably lost the first fight. Notice anything these guys have in common? Like maybe the fact that they are very slow, only move in straight lines and block punches with their faces?

I think Mundine in Australia is a better win for Kessler, but Andrade was probably second. That doesn't make Kessler's resumé shit at all. He has beaten more champions than you've eaten peas. You pretty much named the best wins of Erdei but the longevity at world level you missed like you missed out on saying that Berrio, Miranda and Zuniga where pretty washed up. Bika isn't really that good. He is really just a crude tough slugger who BTW has said that he thought Kessler was in a class of his own (before Andrade). The longevity isn't impressive at all when you consider the lack of quality opposition. Tunney said he was poorly mismanaged by Universum, which might be true, so if that's the case how is his resume better then Bute's? Berrio wasn't washed up at all. Coming off wins of Yusaf Mack and current WBO champ Robert Stieglitz (Avenged a previous loss too), he banked in his best wins of his career before losing to Bute.

Bute is a protected, garbage fighter.

Not impressive? They are a lot more proven then any of the scrubs Erdei beat save for Frag and Gonzalez. Andrade is a quality fighter and if he isn't then that makes Kessler's resume shit because that was his best win until Carl Froch. How does KOing a guy in a rematch impressively and dominating him the first tiem for 11 rounds be called "unimpressive" You didn't even bother supporting Erdei's resume. You just see that the other people are sluggers and you view them as shit, and write them off. Bika is better then a lot of people on Erdei's resume too. I think Mundine in Australia is a better win for Kessler, but Andrade was probably second. That doesn't make Kessler's resumé shit at all. He has beaten more champions than you've eaten peas. You pretty much named the best wins of Erdei but the longevity at world level you missed like you missed out on saying that Berrio, Miranda and Zuniga where pretty washed up. Bika isn't really that good. He is really just a crude tough slugger who BTW has said that he thought Kessler was in a class of his own (before Andrade).

You shouldn't call bullshit. The names listed by you as Bute's best wins are not impressive by any standard. Perhaps the KO of Andrade, but it kinda fades given the controversy of the first outing. Not impressive? They are a lot more proven then any of the scrubs Erdei beat save for Frag and Gonzalez. Andrade is a quality fighter and if he isn't then that makes Kessler's resume shit because that was his best win until Carl Froch. How does KOing a guy in a rematch impressively and dominating him the first tiem for 11 rounds be called "unimpressive" You didn't even bother supporting Erdei's resume. You just see that the other people are sluggers and you view them as shit, and write them off. Bika is better then a lot of people on Erdei's resume too.

bute is better off just staying at 168 lbs. Yeah but who's he supposed to fight until the tourney is finished, besides maybe Pavlik? At 30 years old he can't afford to wait a couple years of his prime. But if I was him, I'd try to make Dawson come to him, if he's still willing to do so.

Do you think this would be a good fight and a good matchup? Erdei, former cruiserweight champ, is coming off an exciting fight and he has been available for a while. Honestly, this is a way better matchup than Jesse Brinkley IMO, who Bute is rumored to fight next. bute is better off just staying at 168 lbs.

I'm calling bullshit on this one. Julio Gonzalez was the best name on Zsolt's resume and that's a quality win, but no one else on Zsolt Erdei's resume is really good. Hugo Garay is alright, but he barely was able to beat him twice. Bute might have one dimensional sluggers, but at least they are good one dimensional sluggers. Andrade (UD 12, KO4) Miranda (KO 3) Bika (UD 12) Berrio (KO 11) Zuniga (KO 4) You're telling me is worse then Gonzalez (UD 12) Frag (UD 12) Garay ( SD 12 x 2) Ulrich (UD 12) Mendoza (UD 12) The only reason it's close is because of Zslot's win over Frag. Bute fights better competition every time out and his defenses have been a lot better then Erdei's. You shouldn't call bullshit. The names listed by you as Bute's best wins are not impressive by any standard. Perhaps the KO of Andrade, but it kinda fades given the controversy of the first outing.

Nice post and outline of the real problems in being non-german in a german stable. As for the bolded I would think that Valuev must rival. Sauerland/King hasn't done very good for him particularly in the Klit negotiations a couple months ago. Yeah Valuev has been pretty badly mismanaged himself but at least in his case he still got a couple million dollar paydays and probably still has one more to go. When a lot of money is involved sometimes negotiations can get very difficult, and I think Valuev's promoters have always seen him as a potential cash cow (stricty because of his freakish size) and are therefore hesitant to put him at risk. In Erdei's case I think it's just flat out indifference on his promoter's part. Universum sucks, look how they handled Felix Sturm's career.. and he is German. Take that into consideration and it's no surprise they never worked to further Erdei's popularity with a couple high profile fights.

WBC LHW RANKINGS: Champ: Pascal Interim Champ: Dawson #1 Danny Green #2 Zsolt Erdei #3 Karo Murat #4 Chris Henry So you guys see, considering Green doesn't even fight as a LHW, that Erdei is the likely choice to fight the winner or Dawson-Pascal. But didnt Erdei say he was going to retire? Apparently "all he ever wanted was to retire undefeated". I haven't seen him fight but he has wins over Julio Gonzalez, Hugo Garay and Thomas Ulrich so it's obvious he is good but he's never fought a real top LHW. I don't know why Green is at #1 because he is Cruiserweight.....That doesnt make sense I wish Erdei would step up and fight a top LHW

You know this Bat, but I've always said Braehmer would get his ass handed to him if he stepped it up against the top guns at 175, as well. That is if he can control his domestic violence and assault binges. Braehmer can punch but he can also get rocked big. The man doesn't comprehend defense that well. Yeah. A shame that Braehmer isn't a fat yank. If he was everybody would know that he is boxings mr. action. The Arturo Gatti of the LHW.

Face it. Zsolt's resumé is better than Bute's. I'm calling bullshit on this one. Julio Gonzalez was the best name on Zsolt's resume and that's a quality win, but no one else on Zsolt Erdei's resume is really good. Hugo Garay is alright, but he barely was able to beat him twice. Bute might have one dimensional sluggers, but at least they are good one dimensional sluggers. Andrade (UD 12, KO4) Miranda (KO 3) Bika (UD 12) Berrio (KO 11) Zuniga (KO 4) You're telling me is worse then Gonzalez (UD 12) Frag (UD 12) Garay ( SD 12 x 2) Ulrich (UD 12) Mendoza (UD 12) The only reason it's close is because of Zslot's win over Frag. Bute fights better competition every time out and his defenses have been a lot better then Erdei's.

WBC LHW RANKINGS: Champ: Pascal Interim Champ: Dawson #1 Danny Green #2 Zsolt Erdei #3 Karo Murat #4 Chris Henry So you guys see, considering Green doesn't even fight as a LHW, that Erdei is the likely choice to fight the winner or Dawson-Pascal.

Neither would Bute. That's a fair point...

Universum always treated Erdei like garbage and that has a lot to do with why he has not ever gotten a big time fight. I don't think Zsolt cared who he fought back when his title reign started out but at a certain point Universum started forcing him to fight bums because they wanted to make sure Erdei held the title long enough for them to pass it on to the much more popular German born Braehmer. Erdei may fight out of Germany, but being Hungarian he was never more than a transplant there. Universum forced Erdei to give up his WBO LHW title so that they could give it to Braehmer in an easy fight. They then forced Erdei to move up to Cruiser (he could probably make super middle) and hung his ass out to dry figuring it was time to cash out with one more title fight. Erdei was also sick leading up to the Fragomeni fight and wanted to push it back a week or two but Universum basically told him to f*ck himself and his career would be over if he didn't fight on the specified date. I cant think of another example of a promotor treating an undefeated fighter in such a sh*tty and disrespectful way so I think it is somewhat safe to assume that they never managed Erdei's career with Zsolt's best interests in mind. Nice post and outline of the real problems in being non-german in a german stable. As for the bolded I would think that Valuev must rival. Sauerland/King hasn't done very good for him particularly in the Klit negotiations a couple months ago.

I dont think Erdei would take that fight in a million years... Neither would Bute.

I dont think Erdei would take that fight in a million years...

I don't know how much that was the fault of Universum, but it seems they played a role in keeping Zsolt safe for sure. And yes, Zsolt beat Fragomeni in a nice fight. Universum always treated Erdei like garbage and that has a lot to do with why he has not ever gotten a big time fight. I don't think Zsolt cared who he fought back when his title reign started out but at a certain point Universum started forcing him to fight bums because they wanted to make sure Erdei held the title long enough for them to pass it on to the much more popular German born Braehmer. Erdei may fight out of Germany, but being Hungarian he was never more than a transplant there. Universum forced Erdei to give up his WBO LHW title so that they could give it to Braehmer in an easy fight. They then forced Erdei to move up to Cruiser (he could probably make super middle) and hung his ass out to dry figuring it was time to cash out with one more title fight. Erdei was also sick leading up to the Fragomeni fight and wanted to push it back a week or two but Universum basically told him to f*ck himself and his career would be over if he didn't fight on the specified date. I cant think of another example of a promotor treating an undefeated fighter in such a sh*tty and disrespectful way so I think it is somewhat safe to assume that they never managed Erdei's career with Zsolt's best interests in mind.

I've heard the rumors he was offered a spot, but declined but I don't have the information behind it. i've heard that. damn i hope it's not true