Forgive me fight fans, my dear colleague and former boxing fan, Brian Wilbur, broke my heart.
Okay, so it?s not that kind of a breakup, but nonetheless, I?m in mourning. He said he?ll be back, but hopefully whatever I write will have him think about this decision. I need to win him back to the love of boxing. I?m not exactly sure if whether an article about two French Canadian fighters would do it, but I?m giving it a shot. A shout out to Brian ? come back, my friend, come back!
As the fight year comes to a close, there have been two boxers that have made 2010 as a standout year. While the aforementioned sentence can be made about both Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito, I?d like to mention two French Canadian boxers that hail from Quebec, Canada.
First, there is Lucian ?Le Tombeur? Bute, 26-0, 21 KO?s the undefeated super middleweight. And, as a pleasant surprise to the light heavyweight division, Jean Pascal, 26-1, 16 KO?s. Both Bute and Pascal have great potential with strong records. However, both Bute and Pascal are subject to criticism by having failed to head outside the confines of Canada. Even as Canada is our neighbor to the north, both Bute and Pascal face personal challenges to step outside their home country and pursue boxing beyond the safety net of the French Canadian advantage.
As I?ve been writing with RSR since 2009, I?ve followed Bute?s boxing career and have always wondered why he was not chosen to participate in the Super Six Middleweight tournament that has, until recently, been the most exciting aspect of boxing. With the onset of some questionable judging, a DQ, Jermain Taylor?s withdrawal, and injury upon injury ? call it the Super Six Curse, Bute continued to box in the last two years. And honestly, fight fans, he is the best in the division as his number one ranking indicates. In his immediate future, he faces Jesse Brinkley on October 15th in defense of his IBF Super Middleweight title.
There is no doubt that Bute has become better in his last three fights going back to 2008. In October 2008, he faced Librado Andrade for the first time and the boxing match went to a 12 round unanimous decision. It is in this first fight with Andrade that Bute raised his level of boxing to become the best.
Within his next three bouts through 2008 and 2009, Bute only got better solidifying his wins with KO victories. In 2009, Bute fought twice. In March, he fought against Fulgencio Zuniga and came away with the 4th round TKO. Later, in November, he fought Andrade
