-Photo Credit: Tom Casino/Showtime-

Romanian born Lucian Bute defended his International Boxing Federation (“IBF”)  Super Middleweight title with a “TKO” victory over Colombian challenger Fulgencio Zuniga on SHOWTIME’s  “ShoBox: The New Generation” series on Friday March 13^th from Montreal, Canada. 

The undefeated champion, now making Canada his home,  displayed his superiority over his challenger from the beginning.   At 6’ 2”, Bute appeared much bigger, stronger and certainly faster than Zuniga, who is 4 inches shorter than the champion.  The size difference between the two fighters was very apparent, although their weight was almost identical.  After easily out pointing the Colombian over the opening three rounds with his overall better boxing skills and punching power,  the champion made it an early evening in the fourth and final round to the delight of his hometown fans. 

Half way through the fourth round, a devastating left to Zuniga’s stomach stopped the challenger on his tracks, and dropped him to the canvas for the fight’s only knockdown.  Rising before the referee’s ten count, a hurt Zuniga was backed into the ropes with the champion trying to close the show.   After several strong combinations by Bute, and with the challenger unable to protect himself, the referee mercifully called a halt to the action at 2:25 of the fourth round.   At the post-fight interview,  the challenger admitted that the left hook to the body “took all the air out of him and he was unable to breath”. 

The fight was Bute’s third defense of his “IBF” title and first outing since his controversial decision win over Librado Andrade, when he barely survived a knockdown in the final seconds of the last round to earn the decision.  The impressive and overwhelming win over Zuniga certainly allowed the champion to recover some of the luster he had lost in the controversial ending and win over Andrade.   The victory raised the unbeaten Lucian Bute’s record to 24 wins (with 19 KOs),  with the loser dropping to 22 wins (with 19 KOs) and 4 losses.   It was Zuniga’s third unsuccessful attempt to win a world title, and in this disappointing performance, he was never competitive in spite of his impressive 19 wins inside the limit.  

For Bute,  the victory opens the possibility for future lucrative fights in the extremely competitive and exciting Super Middleweight division.  Possible marquee opponents include “WBA” champion Mikel Kessler,  undefeated  “WBC” champion Carl Froch,  newly crowned “WBO” champion Koroly Balzsay, and possibly middleweight champion  Kelly Pavlik and former world champion Jermain Taylor, who is challenging Carl Froch for his Supper Middleweight title next month. 

The skills displayed by Lucian Bute in his victory over Fulgencio Zuniga make him a dangerous and viable opponent for any of the above named fighters, and a fight held in Canada would be a certain sellout due to the overwhelming popularity of the champion.