If Bute has any hope of sharing the spotlight (with Adonis Stevenson and a surging David Lemieux), he MUST win?
?With a convincing win Bute might get a chance to fight DaGale and win his former title.??Yvon Michel, Bute?s promoter
It wasn?t that long ago that Lucien Bute (31-2) was the toast of Montreal; boxing and his many thrilling fights at the Bell Centre in Montreal or the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City were major Canadian sporting events. David Lemieux was struggling after the Rubio disaster in 2011 and Jean Pascal was playing second fiddle.
But that was then and this is now and a lot of things have happened since then, most notably Bute?s destruction at the hands of a rampaging Carl Froch in May 2012. A loss to Jean Pascal in January 2014 and a so-so showing against now fading Denis Grachev in 2012 did little to advance Bute?s comeback plans.
Now, after recovering from some injuries, the popular Montreal resident (by way of Romania) is finally set to fight again and his opponent is relatively unknown Italian Andrea Di Luisa (19-2) who for the first time will be fighting outside of Italy. Di Luisa?s last loss was an icing at the hands of tough Frenchman Christopher ?L?iceberg? Rebrasse, but the Italian lacks the chops to offer much resistance to the 35-year-old Bute. Nevertheless, he has everything to gain and little to lose so the risk-reward is in Andrea?s favor.
If Bute has any hope of sharing the spotlight (with Adonis Stevenson and a surging Lemieux), he MUST win.
This PBC fight is on NBCSN.
