MONTREAL, QUEBEC CITY, CANADA — IBF super-middleweight champion Lucian Bute (28-0, 23 KOs) utilized a lethal body attack to notch his fifth straight knockout over a very game but outgunned Brian Magee (34-4-1, 24 KOs).
The first two rounds of the fight proved to be very awkward. The southpaws had trouble establishing range and clumsily crashed into each other for many clinches. Things picked in the third when Bute was stunned by a Magee left hook. He returned fire with a straight left. In the fifth, Bute took control by timing Magee’s rushes, hitting him with solid right jabs and his money punch, a wincing left uppercut to the body.
Bute’s offense didn’t break Magee’s confidence. The Irishman continued pressuring in the sixth, scoring a solid right hook. Bute came back with another left uppercut to the body and scored the first knockdown of the evening. Magee was visibly grimacing as Bute followed up with more lefts downstairs combined with right hooks to the head. Bute scored two knockdowns off the left uppercut in round seven, but the referee from his vantage point incorrectly ruled one as a low blow.
Brian Magee was a desperate man by round eight and recklessly attacked with wild hooks. Bute got clipped with several, but remained composed and strafed Magee with three consecutive left uppercuts to the body. Magee was clearly in pain but held to prevent another knockdown. He made a decent stand in the ninth before Bute countered with yet another left uppercut, this time to the head, to score the third and final knockdown of the fight.
Magee fell forward on his hands and knees, and referee Pete Podgorski did not bother with a count.
In the post-fight interview, Lucian Bute confirmed his willingness to fight the Super Six winner in America. He also extended that offer to Mikkel Kessler, who was sitting ringside on commentary and expects to return later this year.
“It’s my dream to fight in Madison Square Garden and Las Vegas,” Bute said. “Showtime gave me this opportunity, let’s go. The [Super Six] final will be Carl Froch and Andre Ward.”
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 