by Hans Olson, ringside
Quebec City- In front of 15,306 loyal fans, Lucian Bute soundly defeated Glen Johnson to score the 30th victory of his career. Glen Johnson seemed content with staying on his feet for all 12 rounds. He did so, but he was severely outclassed by the younger Bute who now looks to fight the winner of the Super Six final between Andre Ward and Carl Froch.
Photo: Tom Casino/Showtime
Bute beat Johnson with ease by using distance, his jab, and exceptional defensive maneuvers. The bout began at a slow pace, the former sparring partners taking their time to feel each other out. After tasting Bute’s punching power, Glen never wavered from his high-guard, and Bute was happy to outbox the Jamaican. Glen was hurt at various points in the fight, and never had Bute in any trouble whatsoever. It was only in the 12th and final round that the “Road Warrior” attempted to win.
Bute won with wide scores of 119-109, 120-108, and 120-108. Boxing Insider also had it a shutout for Bute 120-108.
A star was born in Quebec in the evening’s co-feature as Pier Olivier Cote (18-0) thrilled his hometown fans with a knockout of Jorge Luis Teron (25-3-1). Cote started fast and hard early, right hands backing up the apprehensive Teron. After Cote had his man badly hurt, he went in for the finish, but in the process took a wild punch that buckled his knees. In the second round, he wouldn’t let anything of the sort happen again. The first punches he thew put Teron down, and a devastating left hook ended it. As Cote went to the wrong corner, referee Jean-Guy Brosseau instructed him to the furthest neutral corner, where Cote jumped on in celebration. It was a performance that had the entire Pepsi Colisee cheering wildly, and we can expect to see much more of Pier Olivier Cote from here on out. The fact that the fight was a lead-in to Bute/Johnson on Showtime will likely see Pier’s stock sky rocketing.
In a highly competitive fight between a pair of Canadian Super Bantamweights, Ontario’s Steve Molitor (34-2) narrowly defeated Quebec’s Sebastien Gauthier (21-3) in a split decision that very well could’ve gone the other way. In the opening rounds, the constant pressure and activity rate of Gauthier won him rounds, in the later rounds…that same work rate was matched by the precision punching of Molitor who fought with blood running down his face for most of the fight. Gauthier was briefly hurt by Molitor in the 5th, but the determination of Gauthier kept him battling through. A pair of slips could very have well be called knockdowns for both Gauthier and Molitor, though Molitor’s knockdown of Gauthier in the 10th was particularly noteworthy, as most though he needed something of significance to get the decision. Boxing Insider scored the fight 96-94 for Gauthier, the same way judge Jean Gauthier did. Judges Nicolas Esnault and Claude Paquette however, scored the fight 96-94 for Molitor, who took the W home by way of split decision.
In earlier action, Kevin Bizier (16-0) continued to impress, scoring a vicious 3rd round knockout over Christian Bladt (38-13-2) that came from a thunderous left hook. Bizier, St. Emile, got off to a great start consistently doubling and tripling up on his jab, mixing in straight right hands that landed with frequency. The left hook that Bizier landed was a thing of beauty, thrilling the local fans who chanted “Bizier, Bizier, Bizier” throughout. Rances Barthelemy improved to 14-0 with a two round destruction of Alejandro Barrera, and Montreal’s Schiller Hyppolite earned the 2nd win of his professional career with a 1st round thumping of Dale Golden. In the evening’s “walkout” fight after the Bute/Johnson main event, Allan Green took a decision over Sebastien Demers to improve his record to 31-3.
Boxing Insider’s Hans Olson can be reached [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @hansolson
