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Cloutier’s Canada Corner
Bute vs. DeGale To Be Confirmed
Soon
By Daniel Cloutier
MONTRÉAL - According trusting sources, the GYM Group will
confirm Tuesday or Wednesday that an IBF super middleweight
championship of the world opposing the Montrealer Romanian
Lucian Bute and the British James DeGale will be presented
November 28th at the new Videotron Arena in Québec City.
Bute (32-2-0) was detaining this world crown between 2007
and 2012. The Montrealer won 10 IBF super middleweight
championship fights in a row during that period. Bute lost
the title to the Biritish Carl Froch (33-2-0) in May 2012 in
Nottingham, England. Froch beat him by TKO in less than five
rounds. Froch gave up the title last January, and DeGale
(21-1-0) won the IBF 168 pounds vacant title May 23rd in
Boston, in beating Andre Dirrell (24-2-0), from Flint,
Michigan, by unanimous decision in 12 rounds.
After his defeat with Froch, Bute got two bad fights in a
row. After his very sad meeting with Froch, Bute won by
unanimous decision against the Russian Denis Grachev
(13-5-1) in Montréal, but the win was not impressive at all.
And in January 2014 at Bell Centre in Montréal, Bute lost by
unanimous decision against the Montrealer Jean Pascal
(30-3-1) in a NABF light heavyweight (175 pounds) North
American championship.
After this frustrating sequence, Bute left the trainer
Stéphan Larouche to join the team of the Californian trainer
Freddie Roach. But the association Bute-Roach has been very
short. Last April, Bute joined the team of the Grant
Brothers at the Monster Gym in Dorval, in the West Island of
Montréal. In working on a daily basis with Howard and Otis
Grant, Bute found back his confidence and strong desire to
train and fight.
August 15th, after 18 months out of action, Bute made an
impressive come back. At Bell Centre, he fought with
intensity and confidence, and he beat the European super
middleweight champion, the Italian Andre De Luisa (17-3-0),
by TKO in less than four rounds. For Bute, it was a first
solid performance in three years.
Since his win over De Luisa, Bute was dreaming to get a
chance to capture again the IBF super middleweight crown. He
will get this chance at the end of November.
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