Pascal vs Bute (Inc Undercard) Review

By Damien McKinley.

Jean Pascal vs Lucian Bute opened up 2014's first “superfight”.

Both fighters are superstars of the sport in Canada and this fight had been highly anticipated. Fans were wondering which of the two fighters would turn up. Would it be the Lucian Bute of old who was rated as the top Super Middleweight in the world by many before Andre Ward's domination of the Super Six tournament, or the Bute who fell apart at the hands of Carl Froch. Would the Jean Pascal who handed Chad Dawson his first defeat turn up or again, the Pascal who fell apart at the hands of Bernard Hopkins.

Pascal began proceedings with his hands low and shooting a soft jab with Bute attempting to catch him with counters. However very little seemed to land in the early rounds. The most notable points of action coming in the last remaining seconds of each round when Pascal decided to open up and fight aggressively. Bute seemed to be holding back his shots throughout the early period with a sense of nervousness about him, his footwork looking incredibly erratic at times.

As the fight made its way into the halfway point, it was clear that Bute needed to do more. Pascal seemed relaxed with his hands down and ducking out of the way of what Bute had to offer. Bute still seemed at edge when Pascal threw his shots. At times his reluctance to trade caused both fighters to tangle and cause Pascal's hooks to land on the back of Bute's head. The sixth round seen the referee having to warn Pascal about this. 

Going on past the half way point it was really a case of carbon copied rounds. Each round taking around one to two minutes to really see any real action from both men. Pascal still resembling his Roy Jones Jr (who trained Pascal for the bout) type stance. Bute as before, was still being hesitant to force the fight in the case of being caught by Pascal. The eighth round seen Pascal land a straight left hand which rocked Bute back across the ring. Bute responded by pinning Pascal to the ropes with a soft attack, only to be countered with a right hook followed by a left hand which put Bute to the canvas. This however was ruled a slip by the referee, must to Pascal's dismay.

Rounds nine and ten saw Pascal land repeated power shots on Bute to the point that at the end of the tenth round, Pascal began showboating and looking in the other direction while Bute tried to land his shots. A clash of heads opened up a cut above Bute's nose causing his left eye to swell in the process.

The eleventh and twelfth bells finally woke Bute up and he went straight onto the front foot. Bute pinned Pascal up several times throughout each round landing repeated power shots. The twelfth round in particular saw Bute rock Pascal's head back many times. But it was a case of too little too late. Whether this was due to Bute finding a little extra fuel in the tank or Pascal's being empty is open to debate but if Bute had of fought in this manner throughout the fight, instead of the final two rounds then maybe the outcome would have been a little different.

It will be interesting to see where both fighters go from here. Especially as Pascal looked to have put water on the flame of a possible fight with fellow countryman Adonis Stevenson. Bute however seems to have lost a lot of confidence since the Carl Froch defeat. But his supposed glass chin he has been branded with seemed to withstand a lot of heavy shots so maybe this will motivate him for any future bouts he may have.

Mike Peréz vs Carlos Takam – D10 (96-94, 95-95, 95-95)

The undercard seen the return of heavyweight contender Mike Peréz after his brutal victory over Magomed Abdusalamov at the end of last year when the latter was severely injured as a result. 
Peréz took on Cameroon Heavyweight Carlos Takam in a fight were many had been wondering what the toll of Abdusalamov's injuries had inflicted on Peréz's mentality going into the ring.

Both fighters kicked off proceedings fighting at a very slow pace. The only notable moment at the beginning of the fight was when Peréz received a cut over his left eye. The fight did spring into action however around the half way point with Takem looking to have landed the harder shots of the two. In the tenth, Takam went for Peréz on the instructions of his corner and landed a hard right hand which wobbled the Cuban. Both fighters battled on for what was to be announced as a draw at the end.

This was Takam's first fight on such a big platform and he more than earned the respect of fight fans after his brave showing. Peréz however will have to try and thunder on, hopefully putting this set back behind him.

Other Undercard Fights:

Eleider Alvarez and Andrew Gardner also battled out a ten round contest at 175lbs on the undercard. Alvarez using his skills and speed to move to 14-0 after scoring 99-91, 97-93 & 96-93 on the judges scorecards.

The bill also saw Mikail Zewski move to 24-0 after stopping Krzysztof Szot in the seventh round of their fight. Oscar Rivas and Artur Beterbiev kept their undefeated records intact with third and fourth round stoppages respectively also.

Yves Ulysse Jr scored a fourth round stoppage win over Vango Tsirimokos before Sebastien Gauthier fought out and eight round draw with Javier Franco. One of the ringside judges scored the contest for Gauthier 78-74, although the other two carded 76-76 for the result a majority draw.

http://v2journal.com/16/post/2014/01/pascal-beats-bute.html

Maybe not quite the end of bute yet. Seems to have gained confidence late on. He might actually take quite a lot from the defeat and come back stronger (if not to the same level as before the froch fight)