Showtime has it's super six tourney. Meanwhile, HBO has possibly the best super middleweight in the world. Or so it seemed on Saturday night when belt holder Lucian Bute stopped super middleweight contender Librado Andrade in the 4th round with a left to the body.
It was the second time in the round that Andrade had been down. He was knocked down earlier by a short left hook by Bute. Ironically, Andrade may have been having his best round when he was knocked down.
The win helps erase the controversy of their first fight 13 months ago. Bute dominated that fight, but grew tired in the later rounds. At the end of the 12th and final round, Andrade caught the champion with only seconds remaining. Bute went down and appeared to have nothing left. That is when ref Marlon Wright appeared to blatantly rob Andrade by stopping the count to send Librado back into a neutral corner. The problem was that Andrade never came out of the corner and the ropes held Bute up for 21 seconds.
Rumors swirled before Showtime's super six tournament that Bute had turned down an invitation to be in it. Word later came down that Bute was never asked to be in the tourney. This probably boiled down to the fact that Lucian now fights on the bigger HBO network.
Now it is apparent that HBO may have the brighter star in Lucian Bute. He is a boxer with power and has stopped his last two veteran opponents with devastating body punches.
With Mikkel Kessler losing his first round fight, Carl Froch winning a controversial decision and Jermain Taylor losing by knock out, the super six tourney has not shined as brightly as many had hoped. The bright spot could be Andre Ward, who has put himself in a position to become one of the top guys at 168.
But one has to wonder if anyone can match Lucian Bute at this time. This is a fighter that may be an international superstar soon, while the super six fight on for another year and a half before anything is settled.
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