Grachev stopped Ismayl Sillakh on ESPN this year, for one of the top upsets of the year. Grachev badly hurt Sillakh and went in for the kill.
Bute is coming off of a brutal beating by Froch. Can Grachev do it again?
I like Grachev - a tough, gutsy guy who is almost impossible to discourage. Against the right fighter he'd make for some great matchups, & there's plenty of suitable opposition around his weight.
That said, he also has a pretty limited toolset to work with - not real quick, not particularly mobile & not particularly slick.
See Bute winning this one & mostly looking good in the process.
grachev is garbage, bute should have no problems beating him. sillakh got arrogant and allowed himself to get defeated, grachev just capitalized. he will need the same help against bute for lightning to strike twice, i think its unlikely especially considering that bute will be very cautious and motivated coming of a loss.
Bute should win this one easily within 5 rounds, it'll be like the Sillakh fight except Bute will keep Grachev down.
Sillakh was a KO waiting to happen, poor defense and a very poor chin, he would've gotten KOd by almost anybody with decent power. I wouldn't be surprised if Grachev doesn't get past the 2nd round if Bute goes for the kill early.
Bute will win
Bute hasn't done much, but still done more than Grachev
he wouldn't choose Grachev without being certain of a win
Grachev would have to immediately jump on Bute and take his heart
if attacked early, Bute would flashback to Froch and wilt
Grachev won't have that in him though, this is a step up fight for him
not much to be awed by, but he will be just because Bute is an ex titlist
Grachev will choke in the moment and not do enough to win
Bute needs to stop him to get some confidence back. Good choice of opponent, picking right off a big upset win. Grachev seems like he's tough. Ismayl did knock him down, so Bute can stop him. Grachev does nothing special but just come forward and have a lot of power, he's relentless. He reminds me a bit of Adrien Diaconu.
Bute wins by stoppage. Only because he has to and he knows it, I think he's gonna really go for it. So I got Bute by stoppage.