FanNation - The Republic of Sport

That IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute would dominate former middleweight titlist William Joppy was never up for debate. Years ago, it was Joppy who performed the role of executioner when an aged Roberto Duran refused to grow old with grace and dared to challenge the prime champion. Last night, it was Joppy going through that painful experience before a vast audience assembled in Montreal's Bell Centre, the city that Bute represents, as well as his native Romania.

With the chances of an upset quite remote, Bute settled into the assignment of promoting himself as the next big thing in the super middleweight division. With only remnants of fighters beaten by Joe Calzaghe, and Calzaghe himself likely to retire after fighting Bernard Hopkins in April, Bute has as good a chance as any to prove that he is the future of a 168-pound division in which North American boxing fans have begun to take a greater interest over the last few years.

As expected, Joppy had all of the moves, but lacked the physical sharpness to make them work for him. He is a man that has been through many hard fights, while absorbing immense amounts of punishment from the likes of Hopkins, Howard Eastman, Felix Trinidad and Jermain Taylor. Joppy's inability to execute punches that would have flowed from him in years past revealed itself early on, and it began to seem as if his very presence in the fight was little more than a matter of self-delusion.

Bute is a slow starter, moving in behind a long jab, looking for the straight left hand before moving into another position of approach. Three tentative rounds elapsed before Bute really began to step in and throw sustained barrages of shots. Before then, there were enough straight lefts landed to excite the crowd, but not enough to convince Bute that Joppy had weakened. In those moments, there were openings for Joppy, but as is often the case with older fighters, he just could not pull the trigger.

Calculating the risk, Bute looked to counter Joppy, waiting for the American to commit before letting go with his own punches. Joppy often reeled backwards when the left landed, holding on to the ropes and looking to taunt Bute. Key punches for Bute in this fight were the jab, straight left, a nice left to the body that found its way through to Joppy's ribcage on several occasions, and an accurate left uppercut. Past the mid-point of the fight, Bute began to assert himself even more, not waiting for opportunities but starting to make them himself, aware that the threat before him was almost entirely gone.

Bute's right hook appeared in only two ways... (Read the full article here: Bute States His Case at 168)