Lucian Bute is a punk. Possibly ducking his mandatory challenger?

My facts are straight. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=5363778 Although Lucian Bute was not invited to participate in Showtime's six-man Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament, the super middleweight titleholder hasn't let it put a crimp in his schedule. Bute (26-0, 21 KO) will make his sixth title defense against mandatory challenger Jesse Brinkley (35-5, 22 KOs) on Oct. 15 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Bute promoter InterBox announced Thursday. "At this level, it is very dangerous to take any opponent lightly," said Bute, a native of Romania who now lives in Montreal, where he has become a major star. "Brinkley surprised many experts during his last bout. He fights very bravely in the ring and I expect him to be fully prepared and to give it his all in the Bell Centre ring." Bute has fought 12 of his past 13 bouts at Bell Centre, including a dominant third-round knockout April 17 of Edison Miranda. That bout was televised on HBO, as was his previous bout, a fourth-round knockout of Librado Andrade in their rematch. However, the fight with Brinkley won't be on HBO and does not yet have an American television outlet. Brinkley, of Las Vegas, gained fame as a participant in the first season of "The Contender" reality series in 2004. He has won nine fights in a row, including a surprisingly easy, lopsided unanimous decision victory against Curtis Stevens in a January title elimination bout that earned him the shot at Bute. "I am beyond excited to fight Lucian Bute for his IBF super middleweight championship," Brinkley said. "This is something I have dreamed about my whole life, and I feel that it is long overdue. I know I'm going in as the underdog, but there is no doubt in my mind that I'm bringing that belt back with me to the United States." Said Tommy Lane, Brinkley's promoter: "He has worked his butt off, and there is no one more deserving than Jesse. He is on a nine-fight winning streak, and with how focused and determined he is I think Bute will be Jesse's 10th victory in a row. Bute is the popular favorite in this fight, but in boxing there is no better story than the underdog coming in and knocking off the champ, and I think we have a recipe for that." The winner of Bute-Brinkley will have nine months to make a mandatory defense against the winner of the Sakio Bika-Jean Paul Mendy title eliminator. That fight was added Wednesday to the July 31 Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz II undercard in Las Vegas.

Nah. Kessler fought him with no sparring due to a broken hand and if anything Kessler made a nice comeback against Froch. Calazghe out-classed him and took his '0'... He then had 3 easy fights before Froch, and I scored the Froch-Kessler fight a draw too. No denying that Kessler hasn't been the same since losing to Calzags. People need to get their facts straight. - Brinkley wasn't a mandatory. He won an eliminator for the IBF #2 position, but it was not a final eliminator. - Mandy is the mandatory after winning by DQ last July - Magee is not a world-class fighter and he's not as good as either Stieglitz or Sartisan I was saddened to read Bute is fighting Magee. I don't think Bute himself is deciding to do this, the truth is his promoters in Montreal and Showtime are doing a shitty job. Bute should be fighting Mendy, Stieglitz or Sartisan not Magee. Finally something we agree on!

Im just curious as to why Sartisan v Magee didnt happen. Magee's promoter had booked the kings hall for the fight in January. Hopefully Magee makes a statement explaining things. It was a much easier way to a world title (even if Ward was the real WBA champ) Maybe he just got a biger offer from Bute and decided to take it for his retirement fund and exposure on the off chance he wins a world title (beating Sartisan wouldnt mean much on the grand scheme of things)

People need to get their facts straight. - Brinkley wasn't a mandatory. He won an eliminator for the IBF #2 position, but it was not a final eliminator. - Mandy is the mandatory after winning by DQ last July - Magee is not a world-class fighter and he's not as good as either Stieglitz or Sartisan I was saddened to read Bute is fighting Magee. I don't think Bute himself is deciding to do this, the truth is his promoters in Montreal and Showtime are doing a shitty job. Bute should be fighting Mendy, Stieglitz or Sartisan not Magee. So Brinkley was not even a mandatory???? Ahahahaa @ Bute. How the hell can the canadian fans keep on accepting this level of opposition? It is baffling.

You ready for this? First, the Brinkley fight was not a joke by your logic, because it was... well, his mandatory. Second, as he JUST fought his mandatory, he is allowed to make a voluntary defense before fighting his current mandatory. Third, any idea what happened in the Mendy-Bika fight? Bika, a guy Bute outclassed, was torching Mendy, and then blasted him when he was down, getting disqualified. So... all in all, your argument is trash. Do your research. BRAVA...Well said..Bute the future.

I feel the same about Bute, him being ranked so high concidering who he's beaten is a joke. But im happy about this opponent lol! edit - meant to quote bat

Im happy about this. Magee was getting a title shot anyway (against Sartisan). He turned down a place in the super 6 too. But saying as Ward is the real WBA champ beating Sartisan wouldnt have meant much. Bute is a much trickier fight to win, but at least he'd get a legit strap out of it if he wins. bute's cherry picking is gonna back fire on him when Magee leaves him a bloody unconscious mess on the floor. He's not gonna know what hit him. I can always dream cant i? I'm so happy for Magee. He is a good fighter and deserves this payday and I wish him the best of luck. So dont take my critisism to heart. It's definetely not directed at Magee but at the dissapointment I and many others feel in Bute continuosly being unwilling to put himself to the test. Magee is in the same mold as Brinkley, Andrade etc. Face first fighters tailormade for Bute's style.

I don't understand why Bute fights a mandatory seemingly every other fight. You have champions in every division and they rarely fight a mandatory challenger. I mean shit Dzinziruk hasn't fought a mandatory in over 2 years. Guillermo Jones didn't even fight for 2 years after winning his belt. Those guys still have belts. Yet Bute seems to have 3 mandatories a year. Ironic? No. Shady? You betcha. Magee isn't a mando. Brinkley was and after that it's time for Bute to test himself against a live opponent. Pascal was turned down and now we got Magee.

Im happy about this. Magee was getting a title shot anyway (against Sartisan). He turned down a place in the super 6 too. But saying as Ward is the real WBA champ beating Sartisan wouldnt have meant much. Bute is a much trickier fight to win, but at least he'd get a legit strap out of it if he wins. bute's cherry picking is gonna back fire on him when Magee leaves him a bloody unconscious mess on the floor. He's not gonna know what hit him. I can always dream cant i?

Precisely! If he fights Magee in March, he won't fight Mendy until July/August. Meaning he won't have a bigger fight/unification bout until this time next year. Meaning he's had a run of 4 or 5 weak opponents. He should probably look to fight his mandatory (Mendy) in March, so he can take on a bigger fighter in July/August. I wish Joe Calzaghe had Hopkins' longevity. If he was still fighting he'd have cleared out this division (if he could still have made weight). Ward's rough house tactics would have resulted in a repeat of Hopkins-Calzaghe. Froch would have been out-boxed. Dirrell would have been embarrassed. And he already took Kessler's soul. Nah. Kessler fought him with no sparring due to a broken hand and if anything Kessler made a nice comeback against Froch.

Dirrell is in no condition to fight...according to Dr Shaw High. :pat: Whos a punk again? :p

When did fighting a bunch of mandatory challangers become something couragous fighters do?

I know it does. But at the same time, it's a one off payday for Stieglitz. He makes some money, loses and then makes no more money, because he's a nobody again. If he avoids Bute, he can continue to fight eh opponents on Universum's Best of Champions Nights in various places in Germany, and bring home all that money. I don't know how accurate all of this is, just playing devil's advocate. Plus, to be totally honest, I think Bute is just biding his time until he can get his hands on some of the Super Six fighters. I get your point about the paydays, it's true. But it seems to me as though Bute's content with these easy fights and easy paydays. No way he should be ranked number-1.

True. Bute has gotten his lame mandy over with so now it's time for a big name moneyspinner or a unification fight right? Wrong. Enter Magee. LOL. Now I have a lot of respect for Magee, who's a good fighter and deserves a good payday, but for those of us who wants to see Bute in a fight where the winner isn't a given then this is a letdown. To add insult to injury his next fight will be Mendy. Team Bute just doesn't have any confidence in their fighter. I think that's the only way to spin Bute's career. What a promotional masterpiece they've made. The canadians are going crazy when Bute KO's all those clubfighters and even Ring Magazine has him toprated in the division. Unbelieveable. Precisely! If he fights Magee in March, he won't fight Mendy until July/August. Meaning he won't have a bigger fight/unification bout until this time next year. Meaning he's had a run of 4 or 5 weak opponents. He should probably look to fight his mandatory (Mendy) in March, so he can take on a bigger fighter in July/August. I wish Joe Calzaghe had Hopkins' longevity. If he was still fighting he'd have cleared out this division (if he could still have made weight). Ward's rough house tactics would have resulted in a repeat of Hopkins-Calzaghe. Froch would have been out-boxed. Dirrell would have been embarrassed. And he already took Kessler's soul.

Bute's a big draw in Canada. I'm sure they could have offered good money to him, better than what he got for Orenlas or any of his other fights. Money talks. I know it does. But at the same time, it's a one off payday for Stieglitz. He makes some money, loses and then makes no more money, because he's a nobody again. If he avoids Bute, he can continue to fight eh opponents on Universum's Best of Champions Nights in various places in Germany, and bring home all that money. I don't know how accurate all of this is, just playing devil's advocate. Plus, to be totally honest, I think Bute is just biding his time until he can get his hands on some of the Super Six fighters.

I know about the Mendy fight. But the point I'm trying to make is that he's choosing to fight a European-level fighter instead of taking on another titlist in the division in order to unify. Why? He should be testing himself against game opponents. True. Bute has gotten his lame mandy over with so now it's time for a big name moneyspinner or a unification fight right? Wrong. Enter Magee. LOL. Now I have a lot of respect for Magee, who's a good fighter and deserves a good payday, but for those of us who wants to see Bute in a fight where the winner isn't a given then this is a letdown. To add insult to injury his next fight will be Mendy. Team Bute just doesn't have any confidence in their fighter. I think that's the only way to spin Bute's career. What a promotional masterpiece they've made. The canadians are going crazy when Bute KO's all those clubfighters and even Ring Magazine has him toprated in the division. Unbelieveable.

Couldn't the possibility exist that he reached out to Robert "I struggle mightily with Enrique Orenlas" Stieglitz doesn't want to lose his WBO title to a better fighter in Bute? It's not all that easy to get two good fighters in the ring at the same time... it's the sad truth of boxing that I've come to learn over the last four years. Bute's a big draw in Canada. I'm sure they could have offered good money to him, better than what he got for Orenlas or any of his other fights. Money talks.

I know about the Mendy fight. But the point I'm trying to make is that he's choosing to fight a European-level fighter instead of taking on another titlist in the division in order to unify. Why? He should be testing himself against game opponents. Couldn't the possibility exist that he reached out to Robert "I struggle mightily with Enrique Orenlas" Stieglitz doesn't want to lose his WBO title to a better fighter in Bute? It's not all that easy to get two good fighters in the ring at the same time... it's the sad truth of boxing that I've come to learn over the last four years.

At least he's better than your punk ass Brit Carl Froch, who needs hometown judging in order to win (like vs Dirrell).

You ready for this? First, the Brinkley fight was not a joke by your logic, because it was... well, his mandatory. Second, as he JUST fought his mandatory, he is allowed to make a voluntary defense before fighting his current mandatory. Third, any idea what happened in the Mendy-Bika fight? Bika, a guy Bute outclassed, was torching Mendy, and then blasted him when he was down, getting disqualified. So... all in all, your argument is trash. Do your research. I know about the Mendy fight. But the point I'm trying to make is that he's choosing to fight a European-level fighter instead of taking on another titlist in the division in order to unify. Why? He should be testing himself against game opponents.