Lucian Bute held the IBF super-middleweight title from 2007 to 2012, successfully making nine consecutive defenses and reaching a peak ranking of number one in the division by The Ring magazine.
32 Facts About Lucian Bute
2.
Lucian Bute was born on February 28,1980, in Pechea, Galati County, Romania.
3.
Lucian Bute is the cousin of handball player Steluta Luca.
4.
Lucian Bute represented Romania at the 2003 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Bangkok, Thailand as a middleweight, where he was defeated and eliminated from the 2003 World Amateur Boxing Championship by the current middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin with a superb knockout at round 4.
5.
On September 11,2014, Lucian Bute announced that he would be trained by Fredie Roach.
6.
Lucian Bute was previously trained by Stephan Larouche, who trained former world champions Eric Lucas and Leonard Doroftei.
7.
On June 15,2007, Lucian Bute faced super middleweight contender and former Olympian Sakio Bika at the Bell Centre in Montreal in an elimination bout for the IBF title.
8.
Lucian Bute beat Bika by unanimous decision and, as a result, he got his shot at the IBF Super Middleweight Champion Alejandro Berrio on October 19,2007.
9.
On October 24,2008, Lucian Bute defeated Mexico's Librado Andrade by unanimous decision but the end of the fight was marred with controversy.
10.
Lucian Bute defeated three-time world title challenger Fulgencio Zuniga on March 13,2009.
11.
In round four, Lucian Bute knocked Zuniga down with a left uppercut to the body.
12.
Zuniga got up, but Lucian Bute continued the assault, eventually leading to a stoppage by the referee.
13.
On November 29,2009, Lucian Bute fought Andrade in a rematch and won with a fourth-round KO at Colisee Pepsi in Quebec City, Canada.
14.
The first three rounds saw Andrade as the aggressor and Lucian Bute played the role of counter-puncher, as had been the case in the first fight.
15.
In round 4, Lucian Bute slipped an overhand right from Andrade and landed a heavy left hand to the jaw sending him heavily to the canvas.
16.
Lucian Bute floored Brinkley for the second time in round eight and knocked him out with an uppercut in round nine.
17.
Lucian Bute dominated and stopped European Super Middleweight Champion Brian Magee in the 10th round in a mostly one-sided fight at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.
18.
Lucian Bute won the fight with an uppercut in the 10th round.
19.
Lucian Bute successfully defended his IBF Super Middleweight title for the eighth time in a row in Romania on 9 July 2011 against the previously unbeaten Jean-Paul Mendy of France.
20.
The event took place at Romexpo and Lucian Bute won in the fourth round by knockout.
21.
Lucian Bute defeated Glen Johnson via unanimous decision at Quebec City's Colisee Pepsi.
22.
On November 3,2012, in his first fight since his loss to Froch, Lucian Bute fought Denis Grachev for the latter's NABF light heavyweight title.
23.
Lucian Bute would be making his first defense of his NABF light heavyweight championship, and the winner of the fight would become the WBC Diamond champion in the class.
24.
However, on May 8,2013, Lucian Bute was forced to pull out of the fight due to an injury that required surgery to remove bone fragments from his left hand.
25.
In mid-2015, it was announced that Lucian Bute would take part in a title fight against IBF super-middleweight champion James DeGale.
26.
On Labor Eve 2016, Lucian Bute was named as the replacement for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
27.
The bout was declared a majority draw and, as such, Lucian Bute failed to capture the title.
28.
On May 27,2016, Lucian Bute tested positive for a banned substance ostarine, which is not an anabolic steroid but is said to increase stamina and recovery ability and produce similar results.
29.
Subsequently, Lucian Bute was allowed to resume his career after a six-month suspension and a $50,000 fine.
30.
At the time the fight was made, Alvarez had a scheduled fight with Norbert Dabrowski on December 10, which he won and a win over Lucian Bute would put him in line for a WBC title match against Adonis Stevenson in 2017.
31.
Lucian Bute lost the fight via 5th round stoppage in a fairly competitive fight.
32.
Lucian Bute retired with a record of 32 wins, with 25 coming inside the distance and 5 losses.