Lucian Bute Derails Edison Miranda's Most Recent "Last Chance"
By Bob Carroll (April 18, 2010) Doghouse Boxing  
IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute, 26-0 (21) went into Saturday night’s showdown with perennial title challenger Edison Miranda, 33-5 (29), with the pressure of fighting a power puncher, fighting on a co-main event on HBO and fighting in his home town of Montreal. To all ringside observers, Bute handled the pressure easily as he dispatched Miranda with a devastating uppercut at 1:20 of the third round.

The fight was built as a match-up of two very powerful punchers at the crossroads. Lucian Bute is still a rising star and Edison Miranda is a fighter on the downside of a once-promising career, but still has the power to regain prominence. This fight would prove to be just another shove down the road to retirement for Miranda.

The first round was a feeling out round, but seemed to go the way of the power-punching Canadian, as Bute proved numerous times that his punches were much stronger and much more on target than Miranda. Miranda seemed to revert to his usual “just make it out of the ring” title fight mode. Edison Miranda really needed to come out with the firepower shown much earlier in his career, but forgot that back in the dressing room.

The second round didn’t go any better for Miranda, as the faster Bute started to tee off on the slower Miranda. Bute seemed to find a real groove in landing the right jab and left hook as Miranda stepped into the line of fire. During the end of the round, Miranda’s handlers told the fighter to stay away from the fighter and throw distancing jabs.

The advice of his corner and new trainer Joe Goossen proved to be of no help to the former title challenger. Miranda tried to attack Bute, but to little avail as the champion continued the assault on his opponent. Just after the one-minute mark of the third round, Bute started to land shot after shot on Miranda. Miranda responded with a shake of the head and holding his hands on his hips. Shortly after such an idiotic, Bute landed a stunning right uppercut to the chin of Miranda, dropping him to the canvas. As Miranda struggled to get up, he fell back into the ropes, causing referee Ernie Sharif to call a halt to the bout at the 1:20 mark of round three.

Bute’s win takes the fighter into a situation that only Roy Jones Jr. Has faced in the distant past, no opposition, thus far, worthy in his division. Bute needs the competition and most of the super middles are involved in the “Super Six” tournament; the rest of his challengers are nowhere near ready for a title bout. So where does Lucian Bute go from here? The light heavyweight division. Fighters like Bernard Hopkins (as Bute was asked about taking on by HBO's Max Kellerman), Chad Dawson or Glen Johnson , would provide a much stiffer brand of opposition than anyone in the division not involved with the “Super Six”. Let’s hope, as boxing fans, that Bute does move up to challenge one of the mentioned names.

As for Edison Miranda? The call of retirement may be premature, but the mantle of super middleweight gatekeeper seems to be a very comfortable position for him. Miranda has finally run out of last chance fights.

Special Note: Listen to Bob, Butch and “THE Big Dog” Benny Henderson Jr. on Fightin’ Words Radio Show on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fightinwordsradio. The show’ is live 6-7 pm Saturday nights, but is also archived on the show page. Also check out "Big Dog Radio", featuring Benny, Bob and "Big Time" Timmy Kudgis, Tuesday nights at 8 pm on the same page, Fightin' Words Radio Network". Call in and be a part of either shows at (347) 202-0832.

NEW: Follow Doghouse on FaceBook!





© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing Inc. 1998-2010