Lucian Bute Leaves No Doubt; Funeka and Guzman in Controversial Draw
by A.F. on Nov 29, 2009 12:33 PM EST
in Post-Fight Analysis/Recaps
3 comments
Andrew Fruman recaps last night's Quebec City double-header featuring Lucian Bute vs Librado Andrade and Ali Funeka vs Joan Guzman..
Hats off to Lucian Bute. Having been bypassed by Showtime's 168 pound Super Six tournament, Bute made his HBO debut a memorable one, and in the process cemented his status as one of the division's elite.
With a 4th round stoppage victory over Librade Andrade, the Montreal southpaw didn't just set the record straight, but pulled off what many felt was impossible. Nothing should surprise us in this sport, but anyone that doesn't admit to being shocked at the sight of Andrade being counted out is telling a tall one.
Then Bute knocked him down again.
A vicious left hand to the body did the damage the second time. With his wits fully about him, Andrade looked like he desperately wanted to rise, but it was one of those paralysing shots, and his legs just wouldn't respond.
The time was 2:57 when referee Benjy Estevez reached 10.
It was a spectacular finish to the show, but not enough to wash away the taste of a very questionable decision handed out in the co-feature.
Ali Funeka should be making the long trip back to his home with a hard earned belt around his waist. Unfortunately for the lanky South African, 2 of the 3 judges didn't see it that way.
The two officials, Alan Davis and Benoit Roussel scored the contest 114-114. The dissenting opinion from Joe Pasquale had it 116-112 for Funeka.
Guzman fought with some real fire early, and brought the fight hard to Funeka during the opening couple of frames. Using his speed and experience, he pressed Funeka back while ripping hard shots to the bigger man's exposed rib cage.
But Funeka remained composed as he weathered the early storm, and by the 3rd round was popping his snappy jab in Guzman's face. The lanky lightweight, who enjoyed a huge reach advantage continued to work the jab, while mixing in his right hand as he took command of the bout through the middle rounds.
Guzman made a bit of a rally, but Funeka again seized command of the fight late in the 8th round, by hurting the cagey Dominican with a hard right hand. Guzman's legs seemed to buckle, as he backed into the ropes, but managed to survive Funeka's follow-up onslaught.
From that point on it was all Funeka, with Guzman - who battled through a nasty cut and bloody nose for much of the bout - showing real guts to last out the 12 rounds.
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Bute KO's Andrade
Andrew I should say I am not shocked nor am I telling a lie when I say this. Now I know I had predicted Bute winning a decision but the sooner it got to the fight I began to think maybe Bute will try to stop Andrade and he just did that. Team Bute had noticed in the first fight that Andrade was wearing his trunks up high therefore they studied their first fight and executed their fight plan very well the second time around. Bute is a good puncher has stopped several opponents with body shots and did well going to the body against iron chin Andrade.
I also noticed Gary Shaw in the crowd last night therefore I hope to see Chad Dawson versus Lucien Bute next!
Shaw is also Funeka's US co-promoter
All signs point to Dawson facing the Pascal-Diaconu winner next.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Funeka can't finish a fight
Yeah, he should have won. No doubt. But he couldn’t throw more than three punches in a row. He lacks killer instincts. Guzman was there with a busted nose and Funeka just jabbed him through the rest of the fight. I guess he thought he had the fight won and didn’t want to push it any further than he had to.
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