Bute Survives Furious Finish, Out-points Andrade to Retain IBF Title By Doug Fischer (Oct 25, 2008) Photo © Tom Casino/SHOWTIME Send this page to friend Give us your feedback Lucian Bute retained his IBF super middleweight title in front of a large and boisterous adopted-hometown crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal Saturday night with a unanimous decision over Librado Andrade in what was a one-sided fight for 11 and half rounds and then a desperate struggle to survive a furious finish put forth by his ultra-rugged challenger. Bute, who extended his undefeated record to 23-0 (18) by scores of 117-109, 115-110 and 115-111, had his way with Andrade for most of the fight, utilizing quicker hands and expert footwork to constantly beat his aggressive antagonist to the punch while avoiding most return fire; however, in the final round of the bout the Mexican-born challenger finally caught up with the fleet-footed southpaw and repeatedly hurt the already gassed title holder until cornering and decking him with a right cross with mere seconds left in the fight. It looked as though Andrade would score a shocking final-second knockout as a fighter cannot be saved by the bell in any round, including the final round, according to the Unified Rules of Boxing, which governed this bout; but after reaching a count of seven over the listless body of the still-out-of-it Bute, Montreal-based referee Marlon B. Wright halted his count to command Andrade, who anxiously bounced in and around a neutral corner, to get back in the corner. “Get in the corner!” Wright shouted twice before picking up his count a second before the final bell rang, saving the Romanian-born Montreal-based title holder from being counted out. It was a tough break for Andrade, who must wish that 15-round title bouts were still around. After Andrade’s enraged trainer, Howard Grant, shoved Wright a few times creating even more tension in the ring before the decision was announced, the affable Las Vegas-based 168-pound contender calmed things down by hugging and congratulating the defending title holder and the members of Bute’s corner. But Andrade still felt cheated out of knockout victory by Wright’s “long count”, and he let Steve Farhood, a commentator for the Showtime cable network, which televised the bout in the U.S., know it during his post-fight interview. “It was outrageous,” Andrade, now 27-2 (21), said of Wright’s count, which he believed the referee needlessly interrupted. I didn’t come out of the corner. [Bute] was completely out. While watching a replay of the series of punches that took the gas out of an already exhausted Bute in the last 30 seconds of the bout and the brutal right hand that dropped the titlist in a heap by a neutral corner, Andrade repeatedly said “He’s out. “His eyes are gone. I know I won this fight.” When Farhood asked if Andrade had a problem with losing the decision, reminding the contender, whose only other loss was a one-sided decision to Mikkel Kessler in a title bout last year, that he was being outclassed by the Montreal-based Romanian, Andrade replied: “I didn’t come here to win a decision. I came to knock him out, and I did.” Wright, who was also interviewed by Farhood, said Andrade could have had the knockout he wanted had he simply stayed in the neutral corner that he was directed to after Bute’s knockdown. “Once he leaves his corner I have to stop the count,” said the referee, who agreed that Bute was all but finished in the final seconds of the bout. “If the fighter leaves the neutral corner my job is to direct him back to the corner and then continue the count. Andrade cost himself a knockout by leaving the corner.” Bute didn’t get what all the commotion was about. He told Farhood that he didn’t think there was any controversy to comment on, stating that he just had a really bad 12th round. “I got tired at the end,” Bute admitted, “but I won the fight. He only won the 12th round and maybe another.” Whether or not Bute was merely “tired” at the end of the fight can be debated, but what he said about Andrade winning only the 12th round and maybe one other is absolutely true. For the first four rounds of the bout, Bute dominated Andrade with quick snappy jabs set up with feints, hard one-two combinations, and smooth lateral movement. For at least two and half minutes of each of these early rounds, Bute controlled the distance with his jab and footwork. Whenever the stalking but offensively reserved Andrade got close, Bute effectively tied him up before spinning out of range and nailing his rugged pursuer with more combinations. In-between the fourth and fifth rounds, Grant implored Andrade to put his punches together instead of lobbing one at a time as he had been. Andrade responded to his trainer in the fifth round, getting in a series of right hands that for a minute or two that boosted his confidence while sapping Bute’s. However, Bute answered Andrade’s fifth-round attack with an assault of fast and powerful left hands in the sixth round. Andrade remained undeterred but he was also ineffective for most of the round, unable to get close enough to really open up and often missing the mark with his single shots because of Bute’s excellent head movement. Bute, who was wise to stay off of the ropes for most of the fight, moved his feet more than his hands in the seventh round, but Andrade was still unable to mount another effective assault and the Romanian drew chant’s of “Bute! Bute!” from the crowd by teeing off on the challenger’s hard head in the final 10 seconds of the round. The late rounds of the bout were pure target practice for Bute as he repeatedly landed combinations that snapped Andrade’s head back or twisted it violently to either side. In the 10th round, Bute scored a questionable knockdown just as the fighters’ feet became tangled, but it didn’t seem as though he would need the extra point. He was clearly the superior boxer; too fast, too fluid, too mobile and too busy for his game but out-classed challenger. But a funny thing happened in the final round. A desperate Andrade let it all hang out and Bute elected to exchange punches with the wild-swinging challenger. The two went toe to toe for a minute before it was evident that Bute was near exhaustion. Despite being pulled apart three times by Wright, it looked like Bute would have to literally run out the clock in order to survive. A right to the body took out what little gas Bute had left in this tank leaving him stumbling and reeling around the ring until the knockdown was scored and the controversial 10-count was issued. The final seconds of the bout transformed a one-sided boxing clinic into a dramatic struggle that many fans would like to see again. When asked if he wanted a rematch Andrade said he would but he didn’t think Bute would ever give him one. However, Bute told Farhood, “I’ll fight anybody next and that includes Andrade.” For Questions or Comments E-Mail Doug Fischer at dougie@maxboxing.com Discuss this Topic - Go to the forums