Photo by Vincent Éthier
On January 18, 2014, HBO will kick off the year’s boxing scene with the first big fight between former champions, Lucian Bute (31-1, 24 KOs) and Jean Pascal (28-2-1, 17 KOs).
Bute and Pascal are both on the road back to the top since having high profile loses against Carl Froch and Bernard Hopkins, respectively. This fight was to be made last year in May, but was derailed due to an injury suffered by Bute during training.
However, this time around both fighters look ready and eager to go to war.
Since losing to Bernard Hopkins in 2011, Jean Pascal has been able to get back on the winning side with victories over Aleksi Kuziemski via unanimous decision and George Blades via TKO in Round 5.
As for Bute, he too was able to get a win by edging Dennis Grachev by unanimous decision in his hometown back in November of 2012.
The two Canadian fighters look to continue their winning ways when they square off in a couple weeks at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
This is a tough fight for me to predict.
Both boxer’s weaknesses have been exposed before in high profile fights. Bute’s chin will once again be tested against Pascal, but on the flip side, Pascal’s boxing abilities will be tested against Bute.
I see it as a close fight, but I’m going to lean towards Pascal for a TKO victory in the mid-to-late rounds if he’s able to catch Bute and stay on top of him.
This is also a very risky fight for both men. A loss could lead either fighter to take on the role of gate keeper in the growing and soon to be stacked Light Heavyweight division.
But, a win can lead to bigger fights against the likes of Andre Ward (perhaps at a catch weight), Adonis Stevenson, Sergey Kovalev and more.
At 175 pounds, the competition is certainly heating up. With a win, Lucian Bute and Jean Pascal have another chance to be in the position to stand amongst the top tier of their division.
