BoxRec

On Friday in Canada, Lucian Bute fights Sakio Bika in an IBF super middle eliminator. This will be his 2nd common foe Bute's had with Joe Calzaghe. The first being similarly dirty mauler Salem. Joe beat Salem in the most dismal performance of the Welshman's career. Got dragged into a maul, even got dropped - although he won most of the rounds it was hideous from both guys...A year later, Bute outclassed and battered Salem, who quit and never fought again.

In late 2006 Joe fought Bika, making his 20th defense (WBO) and 1st defense (Ring/IBF titles). He got dragged onto his mauling opponent's level (deja vu), and despite outworking his man most rounds, he was nailed with repeated right hands late. It was an awful display..Now Bute faces Bika on Friday. Is the quick handed, heavy hitting southpaw going to bash up Bika, and make Calzaghe look bad again?

Is Bute going to embarass Calzaghe?! Of course, Bute will destroy Bika in less than 8 rounds. Calzaghe is overated, and if he fights Kessler, there's no way that he can win.

Maybe Bika will expose Bute......

Calzaghe may soon become yesterdays news!

Bute resembles a slower Calzaghe who can be timed.

Don't most purists use the term styles make fights?

Punchy Joe wrote:Maybe Bika will expose Bute......

I don't think Bika brings much that Bute hasn't seen. The Canadian/Romanian has been brought along cleverly to deal with problems posed by different styles. He's outclassed just about every fringe contender out there - Salem, Tatevosyan, James O Toney, Lolenga Mock, Andre Thysse, and is ready for the top level. Good size, good movement, fast snappy hands, great variety. Bute should make easy work out of Bika. A strong, rough but raw guy who keeps on getting opportunities he doesn't deserve.

I'm a big fan of Bute but I'm not looking at this fight as a way to compare Bute to Calzaghe.

Styles make fights. I know Bute is often compared to Calzaghe but honestly their style are not the same.

Even if he has 16 stoppage in 19 fights. Bute is very defensive minded. Everything he does is to set up traps so he can counter. Only when there is an opening will Bute explode with a combinaison or a flurry.

Bute knows Bika is a dirty and akward fighter and I'm sure his game plan was specificaly made to avoid getting dragged into a shitty fight like what happened in Calzaghe-Bika.

My guess is Bute will try to keep Bika at bay with his jab and excellent footwork. Then he'll try to make him pay everytime he'll try to get in.

Watch for the left uppercut to the body if Bika commits too much when he throws the right hand.

Maxime,

Maxime wrote:I'm a big fan of Bute but I'm not looking at this fight as a way to compare Bute to Calzaghe.

Styles make fights. I know Bute is often compared to Calzaghe but honestly their style are not the same.

Even if he has 16 stoppage in 19 fights. Bute is very defensive minded. Everything he does is to set up traps so he can counter. Only when there is an opening will Bute explode with a combinaison or a flurry.

Bute knows Bika is a dirty and akward fighter and I'm sure his game plan was specificaly made to avoid getting dragged into a shitty fight like what happened in Calzaghe-Bika.

My guess is Bute will try to keep Bika at bay with his jab and excellent footwork. Then he'll try to make him pay everytime he'll try to get in.

Watch for the left uppercut to the body if Bika commits too much when he throws the right hand.

Maxime,

I agree for the most. I disagree with Autobarns assessment of the Bika Calzaghe fight in that Bika was dominated from start to finish, in no sense did he start to break through in the latter stages. However, he was an extremelly strong fighter and pretty dirty to boot. Clearly from a strategy point of view Joe should have kept him at bay rather than choose to brawl with him, but ultimately, Calzaghe likes to fight and plus there was the impetus of putting on a show for the US, which perhaps skewed his strategy. From a personal point of view I didnt mind one bit that Calazghe decided to scrap with Bika, I found it entertaining. Right or wrong I enjoy when the tempers rise in fights and enjoy the odd bit of showboating.

Anyway, Bika was a tough guy and a valid contender. Joe dominated just about every round despite being drawn into a brawl. But yes, if he'd have wanted to he could have had an easier night.

Maxime wrote:I'm a big fan of Bute but I'm not looking at this fight as a way to compare Bute to Calzaghe.

Styles make fights. I know Bute is often compared to Calzaghe but honestly their style are not the same.

Even if he has 16 stoppage in 19 fights. Bute is very defensive minded. Everything he does is to set up traps so he can counter. Only when there is an opening will Bute explode with a combinaison or a flurry.

Bute knows Bika is a dirty and akward fighter and I'm sure his game plan was specificaly made to avoid getting dragged into a shitty fight like what happened in Calzaghe-Bika.

My guess is Bute will try to keep Bika at bay with his jab and excellent footwork. Then he'll try to make him pay everytime he'll try to get in.

Watch for the left uppercut to the body if Bika commits too much when he throws the right hand.

Maxime,

great post !

I think bute will fight the same way he did vs salem (another dirty but older fighter).. however bika is strong than salem so I expected this to go to the distance !

fist wrote:I agree for the most. I disagree with Autobarns assessment of the Bika Calzaghe fight in that Bika was dominated from start to finish, in no sense did he start to break through in the latter stages. However, he was an extremelly strong fighter and pretty dirty to boot. Clearly from a strategy point of view Joe should have kept him at bay rather than choose to brawl with him, but ultimately, Calzaghe likes to fight and plus there was the impetus of putting on a show for the US, which perhaps skewed his strategy. From a personal point of view I didnt mind one bit that Calazghe decided to scrap with Bika, I found it entertaining. Right or wrong I enjoy when the tempers rise in fights and enjoy the odd bit of showboating.

Anyway, Bika was a tough guy and a valid contender. Joe dominated just about every round despite being drawn into a brawl. But yes, if he'd have wanted to he could have had an easier night.

Bika wasn't a valid contender to the number 1 in the division, he had yet to have a win at the weight let alone a win over a recognisable name in any division. He was scappy and looked almost Maussa like at times. Calzaghe looked very poor especially when trying to showboat and i'm not sure how you found that fight entertaining.

Let's get a few things straight, Calzaghe won most rounds vs Bika. Like he did vs Salem. But he was embarrassing and amateurish. Lunging forward, head first, taking shots he didn't need despite outworking his man.

Not comparing Bute and Calzaghe's styles. Bute is slicker. Joe more energetic and experienced. I;m comparing their performances vs common (in every sense of the word), dirty, nasty foes.

Bute was faultless vs Salem. I wonder if he will be vs Bika. If he is, guess what, that makes him look damn good when the #1 in the division had to fight down to his foes and win the hard way.

Ugh. I just saw Bute-Bika. This was AWFUL. Bute was so tame. I don't think he has what it takes at the top. Not sure if he even gets by Berrio. I can now see why he was brought along so slowly. Bika is difficult to fight but my God, Bute was negative. Someone axe this thread - it backfired on me, hahaha

I like the look of Jean Pascal a lot more. Hopefully Pascal will up his comp and continue to look good.

Auto That's what I have benn saying from day one
Bute is just a good fighter nothing special

Pascal does have somthing special about him, makes things interesting
He's full of himself and that's fun to watch Win or Lose
He's entertaining.
Bute was so boring ant stiff
I would rather see the other light Heavy fighter Interbox has Adrian "The Shark"
He was really fun to watch
He tried to take the guys head off!
It was good TV

Bute seems to lack a real fighting spirit. I think Froch would take him down.

Diaconu and Pascal are very exciting. Pascal's body punching is a bit overlooked.

Autobarn wrote:Ugh. I just saw Bute-Bika. This was AWFUL. Bute was so tame. I don't think he has what it takes at the top. Not sure if he even gets by Berrio. I can now see why he was brought along so slowly. Bika is difficult to fight but my God, Bute was negative. Someone axe this thread - it backfired on me, hahaha

I like the look of Jean Pascal a lot more. Hopefully Pascal will up his comp and continue to look good.

Respect.

I felt before that Bute was improving every fight. But he clearly hasn't.

AutoMaussa got Pwned.

I remember him hyping up Bika too before he fought Joe.

Katon! wrote:AutoMaussa got Pwned.

I remember him hyping up Bika too before he fought Joe.

Not necessarily. In theory, all Bute had to do was a repeat of the Salem fight and it would have been very interesting. But he couldn't.

Re Bika, I was just trying to make the best of a bad situation. Re Bute, pre Bika he'd done all that was asked of him vs a lot of different stylists. He'd shown skills, fast hands, decent power, great combos. A fighter to have good reason to hype. But there is a pretty huge slice of evidence against him that cropped up only the other week.