Jean Pascal(28-2-1 17 KOs) vs.Lucian Bute(31-1-0 24 KOs)
When:Saturday January 18, 2014
Where:Bell Centre, Montreal Quebec
TV:HBO
Weight Class:WBC Diamond Championship Title/Light Heavyweight Title
by Tim of Predictem.com
Betting Odds:Jean Pascal -140/Lucian Bute +120
Over/Under:Over/Under 10.5 rounds with the OVER at -220.
Fight Analysis
Both fighters come into this Diamond Championship fight after losing—then winning—and finally, postponing the fight from the original May 23, 2013 start date after Mr. Bute had surgery to pull bone fragments from his left hand. Some suggest the surgery to Bute was primarily intended as Cryosurgery after receiving multiple Carl Froch tattoos during their 2012 fight affecting Butes upper and lower torso along with Butes jaw-line! The surgery went well although rehabilitation of Butes confidence and desire has seen complications. Jean Pascal, on the other-hand, remains quietly destroyed after receiving a beat-down from 9,000 year old Bernard Hopkins in 2011. Hopkins, for the second time (their first fight ended in a highly controversial Drawala Bradley vs Pacquiaowith Pascal playing the part of Bradley!) dominated Pascal forcing Pascal to duck Tavoris Cloud and get his winning edge back defeating former Soap Opera Star and Billiards Champion Aleksy (mother misspelled) Kuziemski for the IHOP/WWE Remote Control Championship Cubic-Zirconium Cummerbund (cant wear it after Labor Day or before Easter!). Since Pascals last pillow tussle with Kuziemski, Jean has been taunting Bute with bourgeois assaults like Mr. Bute, Romania is meretricious (Bute is Romanian!) and this HUGE insult in a chance meeting at LAtelier Per Se, I saw Monsieur Bute eating crepe suzette with a salad forkAND a full salad was nearby! Just like a bourgeoishe appeared to be gossiping! In Quebec, both fighters are considered Rock Stars but to the rest of the world, welllets pick a winner!
One word about the Diamond Championship. In an effort to seem relevant once again, the WBC (Worlds Biggest Conflagration) set up the Diamond deal in 2009 suggesting to fight fans the elevation of two elite, big-time fighters like Ali-Forman, Leonard-Hagler, Arguello-Pryor, Robinson-Lamatta, Graziano-Zale, Louis-Connyou get the ideaand if ANYONE believes this fight is worthy of the Diamond distinction then Boxing is forever KAPUT! Cmon, Pascal-Bute???? Outside of Quebec and Bucharest, these fighters are like Ryan Fitzpatrick and Chad Henne fighting it out on a Sunday afternoon! Sorryit had to be said. Disgraceful
Jean Pascal has been working hard in preparation for this fight adding Roy Jones Jr. to the Pascal Gravy train and giving Jones Jr. a leap with Roys much needed attention-soaking quotient. The problem with great fighters like Jones Jr.: Great Fighters make LOUSY Mangers/Trainers/Coaches! Why? Well, Jones Jr.like all great athleteswas pretty much superior physically, mentally, and emotionally with every, single opponent he faced. INSTINCT drives these types of great athletes! Instinctually, Jones knew when the time was right to go after an opponent and dominate himALL great athletes are supremely confident in their own physical abilities and KNOW how and when to win! The problem is: Pascal IS NOT A SUPERIOR ATHLETE! Jones, I suppose, doesnt realize Pascal really has NOTHING physically, mentally, or emotionally in common with Jones Jr. and Pascal never will. In fact, Jones Jr. seems to know nothing about how to fight Butefrom Pascals perspective! Why? Because Jones Jr. is MUCH different than Pascal in just about every way imaginable! Jones Jr. knew he could clown, screw around, box, or brawl with ANY OPPONENT that stepped in the ring with him and win when Jones Jr. felt the time was right. Why? Because Jones knew he could knock any of his opponents out at any moment in any fight. Just like when Michael Jordan knew it was closing time, Jordan knew he was able to do ANYTHING he wanted against ANY opponent to accomplish his goal. Jean Pascal is a good fighterjust like Eric Decker is a good wide receiver for the Broncosbut Eric Decker is no Peyton Manning and Jean Pascal is no Roy Jones Jr.! You cant teach Eric Decker to be Peyton Manning; they are two COMPLETELY different athletes! The same holds true for Jean PascalRoy Jones Jr. cant teach Jean Pascal how to be Roy Jones Jr. and Jones Jr. has absolutely no IDEA of what it is like to be Jean Pascal! In this fight, if a microphone is in the corner, and Jean Pascal is looking for answers from Roy Jones Jr., you will here Jones Jr. scream, I dont knowgo knock his A** OUT! because that is precisely what Jones Jr. knowsnothing much more, nothing much less just like ALL superior athletesbecause Jones Jr. is different and had the ABILITY to knock anyone, or everyone, the hell out!
Im not railing on Jones Jr.s ability to teach boxing strategy. But adding Jones Jr. to Pascals fight camp is going to be a disaster! Speaking of the Pascal vs Bute fight, Jones Jr. said Pascal should not be like Carl Froch and simply walk down Bute; unless it works!! If it works, then Jones said Pascal should do exactly thatexcept in the very beginning of the fightJones Jr. suggests Pascal should initially box Bute and see how that goes. See how that goes???? What!!!??? Jones Jr. just gave us four very different strategies Pascal should employ facing Bute; start out boxing and see how thats going; start out walking down Bute like Carl Froch instead of starting out boxing; dont walk down Bute like Carl Frochunless it works; box Bute unlike walking down Bute like Carl Froch. Adding Roy Jones Jr. to Jean Pascals appears to be a very shrewd movefor Bute!!! In Jones defense, Bute looks to be an old fighter looking for one last paycheck to retire from. Jones probably cant pinpoint what type of fighting-suit Bute will show up in simply because Bute hasnt shown much of ANYTHING in his last, ohhhh, 8 fights; except being totally outmatched against Carl Froch!
The olde tune, I left my heart {desire, soul} at or near the St. Lawrence Seaway puts precisely Lucian Butes boxing juxtaposition in perspective. Usually in boxing, after beating some tomato cans, a boxer moves up in class and talent with a chance for a title shot. Not So for Lucian; Bute has been served a platter of shellfish starting after Butes 2005 bout with Dingaan Thobela; who know runs an online ant farm? Bute has got to be boxings Bubble Boy protected from any outside infections (Good Fighters) retaining the IBF Super Middleweight title (against various characters sometimes referred to as fighters) 9 times placing him 4thon the All-Time IBF list in his class for longest reign without losing the title. Butthe Hangman came calling in May 2012 and Bute was FORCED to fight Carl Froch or be stripped of his IBF title. Boxing analysts are still waiting to this day for Bute to attend the Froch fight as Froch completely manhandled Bute tearing down Butes House of Cards. Butes style can be classified as, shifty, dodgy, avoidance-oriented, non-confrontational while Butes boxing style is classified as Unskilled-Dependent. Bute has had flashes of brilliance escaping Mexico after a controversial decision with Librado Andrade, mostly fighting guys with last names starting with the letter M, and picking a fighter more concerned with his kick-boxing and MMA career for Butes comeback fight (prior to Pascal) in Denis Grachev! Butes a journeyman fighter in the sorriest sense of the word and getting just CRUSHED by Carl Froch was the final chapter in this less-than-thrilling book! Bute not only lost the fight against Froch, Bute lost the steamy fog on the bathroom mirror that distorts ones personal genuine assessment! Bute is a massive question mark for this fightand Butes only saving grace; He became a Canadian citizen in 2012. Finding any discernible fighting value with Bute takes a workhorse effort; to say the least. Bute is the attractive girl from Peterbunker, South Dakota who goes to Hollywood in pursuit of an acting careerwere all PRETTY much sure how that ends up! Bute was shocked, dismayed and filleted by a much better fighter in Carl Froch. That particular beating doesnt mean Jean Pascal became any better than an over-hyped, social dilettante on a course to become The Best of the Worst boxing can offer! It only means Bute has no delusion he is better than what he isand that is a fact-one funeral for any boxer!
And God Bless Jean Pascal for hiring Roy Jones Jr. to coach Pascal should be Butes prayer every night!!! Roy Jones Jr., ironically, is Butes only shot at winning this fight! ANDfor each and every one of you who believe Jones Jr. is being coy, or Intentionally misleading with Pascals strategyJones Jr. is first and foremost a strikingly upfront, deftly honest, in-your-face No Games type of guy. Hording a savvy, misleading, shifty side is not in Jones Jr.s DNA. This fight will come down to: Jones Jr. screwing up Pascals head so thoroughly and completely, Pascal will not know whether to fight, fart, dip, duck, run, or play Mozarts Moonlight Sonata in B minor! Then, when Roy Jones Jr. screams, I dont know! Just go knock his A** out! Pascal will dive into the ring and forget how to do that as well! Bute, in one crazy second with Pascal offering up his chin, will have to make a decision on whether or not he is a good fighterand Bute succeed in Truth but fail as a fighter! Pascal by Decision!!!!
My Prediction to Win the Fight:
Bute wont be able to pull the trigger when the time is right and Pascal will dance off into the sunset looking to face a REAL contender the next time out (Kovalev, Stevenson, Mikkel Kessler) but that scenario is highly doubtful. Both of these fighters know precisely where they stand—in their own minds—their Handlers would never let either of them fight anyone worthy of being called a Top Flight Contender. The end is very near for both these guys wearing boxing gloves.Send in the Clowns, theres got to be Clownsdont bother; theyre here! Pascal in a Decision as both competitors are ticketed for parking in a loading zone.