08-24-2016, 10:49 AM
QUEBEC -- Lucian Bute is hoping to dispel the notion his reign as International Boxing Federation champion has been built on a string of mediocre opponents. The unbeaten Montreal fighter (29-0) can take a step in that direction Saturday when he faces veteran Glen (Road Warrior) Johnson (51-15-2) at the Pepsi Colisee. Johnson, despite his 42 years, is being touted as the most dangerous opponent yet for the 31-year-old Bute, who will make the eighth defence of the title he won from Alejandro Berrio in 2007. "You could say that, yes, but well see," Bute said Wednesday at a news conference with Johnson. "If its a short fight, people will say it was an easy fight. If its a long fight, people will say its my best fight. "But looking at his experience and what hes accomplished, it should be the toughest one." The bout pits the relentless five-foot-nine Johnsons powerful right hand against the slick style and nasty left uppercut of the six-foot-two Bute. Johnson has been in the ring with most of the top light heavyweights and super-middleweights in the last decade, and was a middleweight when he lost a title fight to Bernard Hopkins in 1997. He was IBF light heavyweight champion when he knocked out former pound-for-pound king Roy Jones Jr. in 2004 and split a pair of title bouts with Antonio Tarver. He lost twice to former champion (Bad) Chad Dawson. "Lucian is taking a step up," said Leon Margules, Johnsons promoter at Warriors Boxing. "Glen Johnson is one of the great light heavyweights (175 pounds) and super-middleweights (168 pounds) of his generation. "I think hell be in the Hall of Fame one day." More recently, Johnson competed in the Super-Six tournament between the worlds top super-middleweights, where he beat Allan Green and then lost in June to British brawler Carl Froch, who will face American Andre Ward in the final Dec. 17 in Atlantic City. The winner will almost certainly face Bute in 2012. The Super-Six is run by the U.S specialty channel Showtime, which left Bute out of the tournament but then signed him on the side to a reported three-fight contract. Showtime will broadcast the bout with Johnson in the U.S., while it is on pay per view in Canada (main event to start about 10 p.m. ET). It will also air the co-feature, which will give power-hitting light welterweight Pier-Olivier Cote (17-0) of Quebec City extra exposure in his 12-round clash with American Jorge Luis Teron (25-2-1) for the minor IBF Intercontinental title. While Johnson battled bigger names, Bute scored knockouts in six straight fights over Fulgencio Zuniga, Librado Andrade, Edison Miranda, Jesse Brinkley, Brian Magee and Jean-Paul Mendy, a previously unbeaten Frenchman who he stopped in four rounds in his native Romania. "Its going to be a defining fight for Bute," said Johnsons manager Henry Foster. "Hes a great champion, but the rap has always been that hes fought Grade B guys, and always at home. "Glen doesnt fool around. Hes going to bring the heat. Well find out what (Butes) made of Saturday night." Butes trainer Stephan Larouche said he respects Johnson, but insisted Bute has not been fighting tomato cans. "He just beat guys so easily people believe the guys are bad," said Larouche. "Zuniga dropped (former champ Kelly) Pavlik. After (Bute) destroyed him, he lost a decision to (light heavyweight champ) Tavoris Cloud and he looked good. "The way Lucian beats them sometimes makes it look easy. But he doesnt believe hes fighting easy guys. He always trains as if its his toughest fight." He does have the advantage of fighting at home, whether its in Romania, his current home in Montreal or two hours down the highway in Quebec City, where a crowd of more than 14,000 is expected. Johnson, a Jamaican who lives in Miami, doesnt really have a home fan base, so he earned his nickname Road Warrior by fighting in his opponents venue of choice. "Who wouldnt just love having that support," said Johnson. "This is how you make your money. "Unfortunately, I dont have that so I have to take on the challenges and the risks. Id have a lot more victories if I didnt have to take the chances I take. My career would have been way more successful. Id probably be undefeated like everybody else. "But Ive had a good career for an underdog guy that a lot of people didnt have faith in, so Im pretty proud." Johnson is known for staying in to shape and he still feels he can be champion again, but he has lost three of his last five bouts. Much has been made of the fact that Bute and Johnson were sparring partners for about six weeks in 2009 while training in Florida for separate fights and they remain on friendly terms. Both said they would set that aside and vowed to bring new moves to their fight that the other hasnt seen. "Everybody else is making a bigger deal of it than I think it is," said Johnson. A strong undercard also has Green (30-3) facing Sebastien Demers (31-4) of St-Hyacinthe, Que. in a 10-round super-middleweight fight and former IBF super-bantamweight champion Steve Molitor (33-2) of Toronto facing Sebastien Gauthier (21-2) of St. Jerome, Que. Norways Ole Einar Bjørndalen has won his seventh Olympic gold medal in mens biathlon. The 40-year-old Bjørndalen, attending his sixth Winter Games, took the prize in the 10-kilometre sprint on Saturday with a time of 24:33.5 and one penalty loop of 150 metres. Austrias Dominik Landertinger earned a silver with a time of 24:34.8, while the Czech Republics Jaroslav Soukup finished wwith the bronze at 24:39.dddddddddddd2. Canadas Jean-Philippe Le Guellec earned his best ever finish at an Olympics, finishing in fifth place and with a time of 24:43.2 and no penalties. Other Canadians in the 10K were Nathan Smith, finishing in 13th place in his first Winter Olympics, while Brendan Green finished in 23rd place. 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