Comments Thread For: Lucian Bute vs. Jean Pascal is Finalized For May 25th

[S. Saddler 1310]

^^ Hitters,

that ambush style **** isn't really my thing either, man. i tend to root for JP against whoever else mainly because he's a 'nice guy', have fond recollections of the sporting grace he showed immediately after the Froch fight. but he does possess a heavy hand/dynamic punch, has the quickness and power (i believe) to exploit Bute's poor resistance to punches and get him going at any time in the fight, and that's why i favour him.

maybe you're right and this an example of cynical timing on Bute's part. but i think he's overconfident in his calculation, if so.
both guys are at a somewhat vulnerable crossroads point. that actually adds its own intrigue to the matchup for me (presumably one of them will go on to a championship bout at LHW), even if it would've been a more sparkling proposition when Bute was officially undefeated and Pascal was the man at LHW. back then i guess Bute's camp were more intent on sitting back and waiting to see who would emerge from the Super Six scrum (preferably with some nice shopwear), seeing out their plan for 168lb supremacy.

[Hitman932]

^^ Hitters,

that ambush style **** isn't really my thing either, man. i tend to root for JP against whoever else mainly because he's a 'nice guy', have fond recollections of the sporting grace he showed immediately after the Froch fight. but he does possess a heavy hand/dynamic punch, has the quickness and power (i believe) to exploit Bute's poor resistance to punches and get him going at any time in the fight, and that's why i favour him.

maybe you're right and this an example of cynical timing on Bute's part. but i think he's overconfident in his calculation, if so.
both guys are at a somewhat vulnerable crossroads point. that actually adds its own intrigue to the matchup for me (presumably one of them will go on to a championship bout at LHW), even if it would've been a more sparkling proposition when Bute was officially undefeated and Pascal was the man at LHW. back then i guess Bute's camp were more intent on sitting back and waiting to see who would emerge from the Super Six scrum (preferably with some nice shopwear), seeing out their plan for 168lb supremacy.

If you go back and look at my posts I was always saying that Bute would be destroyed by the first real fighter he took on at 168. Not because of how bad Bute is, but because of how good the top fighters at 168 are and how well suited they were to expose him.

Froch has a jab to keep distance and has an uncanny skill for timing a right hand. Pascal has neither. His jab is **** and his right hand is a looping joke of a punch.

Pascal's penchant for tiring in the second half plays perfectly to Bute's biggest weakness which is his long term durability and not his lack of one punch resistance.

I said Bute would be KO'd by Froch but I have to admit he actually took way more punishment than I thought he was capable of. I think he may waver against Pascal but IMO Pascal is not a finisher and is afraid to shoot his wad when he hurts his man.

The reason I favor Bute is because Pascal will allow Lucien to pick the spots and control the distance and pace of the fight. Everything else sort of falls into place from there. Pascal will fall behind, if he takes chances he may get stopped, if he fights passively like against Hopkins he will lose a lopsided decision.

[nycsmooth]

Never been a fan of Bute, & his style...I favor JP, who is a really nice individual...

[S. Saddler 1310]

If you go back and look at my posts I was always saying that Bute would be destroyed by the first real fighter he took on at 168. Not because of how bad Bute is, but because of how good the top fighters at 168 are and how well suited they were to expose him.

me, too. although 'real' is a relative term, ofc. i wouldn't necessarily describe guys like Bika and Andrade (who did destroy Bute, funnily enough) as un-authentic fighters.

Froch has a jab to keep distance and has an uncanny skill for timing a right hand. Pascal has neither. His jab is **** and his right hand is a looping joke of a punch.

i'd counter that Bute's defence is rather laughable, predicated on his 'speed', which is overestimated by his camp.

Froch actually employed an ambush style against Bute and exposed the guy's defensive frailties (his wooden uprightness, not least) with alternating bouts of passivity and aggression. Froch was explosive, surprised Team Bute with his speed, did so with a not-so crisp punching technique.

one thing that Pascal is capable of being is explosive. and, if necessary, i do believe him capable of modifying his technique well enough to get solid hands on Bute. not all of his right hands are looping - i've seen him throw shorter punches, even if sacrificing some power to do so, and it's worth bearing in mind that arm punches have damaged Bute.

were Bute a more sophisticated defender, i might think him able to make Pascal look foolish.

Pascal's penchant for tiring in the second half plays perfectly to Bute's biggest weakness which is his long term durability and not his lack of one punch resistance.

well, Bute has shown that he can be shook up badly by a merely solid blow from a heavy hand. he may stay on his feet, but he becomes more vulnerable with each subsequent blow that's landed, even if those blows are spaced - it doesn't take much accumulation to get him going. the truth is, he just doesn't react well to punches.

what would you call 'long-term' for Bute? he was rocked bigger and bigger with each round against Froch and taken out in 5.

against Andrade, i don't think he was worn down by effective punching over the course of the fight. i believe that he was made to work so hard offensively to hold back a relentless foe that he tired later on and Andrade was able to catch up to him and actually start doing decent work of his own. as soon as Andrade was in a position to get work done, as i recall it, he accumulated damage on Bute quickly. i may want to review the fight again, though, it's been a while.

generally, while he's spirited enough to try to hang in there, it seems to me that Bute breaks down quickly when an opponent is able to put somewhat heavy hands on him with any consistency.


Pascal's glaring weakness is his conditioning, but some good career LHW's haven't been able to exploit that. when Pascal is taking time off in rounds or later in the fight (assuming it goes there), Bute's got to intrepidly go at him and make the most of those periods.

I said Bute would be KO'd by Froch but I have to admit he actually took way more punishment than I thought he was capable of. I think he may waver against Pascal but IMO Pascal is not a finisher and is afraid to shoot his wad when he hurts his man.

i'm calculating that he (Pascal) has enough firepower to rock this guy more than once and get him weak enough to be taken out mid-late. it's been a while since he had a legit stoppage, but i think he can end that run with the fragile Bute.

i'd hope you'd appreciate the tenor of my own Froch-Bute prediction, BTW:

Bute may get some help to the final bell in Canada, but Carl is gonna smash his ****** face in and KHTFO in Notts.

^^ although, given hindsight, one struggles to imagine any amount of IBF assistance helping Bute to the finish line even in Quebec.

The reason I favor Bute is because Pascal will allow Lucien to pick the spots and control the distance and pace of the fight. Everything else sort of falls into place from there. Pascal will fall behind, if he takes chances he may get stopped, if he fights passively like against Hopkins he will lose a lopsided decision.

re. the bold, one may have assumed the exact same thing about the Pascal-Dawson fight.

you could say that his spells of passivity should allow opponents to pick the spots and control the distance in theory, but the awkward bull**** nature of his style helps him steal rounds by making his opponent follow (with the due care and responsibility one is supposed to adopt when following a guy who has shown he can punch) and then manipulating distance -- perhaps crudely, but often effectively -- with those quick in/out offensive bursts.

based on that, i could entertain thought of an evenly split first half to the fight, but i don't see Bute's potential to put a lead in the bank. Dawson couldn't do it. it's not like Bute has some great workrate, more like average or slightly blow average. his jab accounts for the greater part of his output, and while Pascal's jab isn't much use, nor is Bute's educated enough to serve him particularly well against Pascal imo - i expect he'll just end up putting it out there and pawing with it to no superior effect.

[IIG]

Some great fights are being made this year. I'm going with Pascal but I'm not all that confident.