Bute Makes Quick Work of Andrade

Posted by Ramon Aranda on 11.29.2009

Plus, Guzman gets an early Christmas present in the way of a split draw against Funeka.

On Saturday night, Lucian Bute (25-0, 20 KOs) made yet another strong statement in the topic of who the best 168-pounder in the world is as he pounded out Librado Andrade in the 4th round of their rematch in Quebec. After a controversial finish in their first bout, Bute picked up where he left off if, you don't count their 12th round, as he easily outboxed before a check hook floored the challenger midway through the 4th. It was a quick left that Andrade never saw coming. He smiled and even winked at Bute, almost to say "good job" before making it to his feet. He didn't appear hurt but moments later a punishing left uppercut to the ribs from Bute, dropped Andrade to his knees. It was pretty clear that Andrade would not get up as he remained on all fours while he got counted out. The shot was so brutal that Andrade winced in pain as Bute celebrated the emphatic 4th round KO.

Things weren't so shiny on the undercard however as Joan Guzman must've heard "Santa Claus is coming" earlier that day when he received a gift draw against the 6'1 Ali Funeka. The early going was all action from both fighters as they traded punches in the center of the ring before a shot seemed to break Guzman's nose. He bled all night long and with Funeka's rangy jab, things didn't get any easier. A clash of heads also opened up a nasty gash over Guzman's right eye that took the game right out of him. It was pretty one sided for the second half of the fight as Funeka fought well from the outside, peppering Guzman with one twos, while Guzman tried to attack the body as he did so earlier on. It was all for naught however as the scores came back as 116-112 for Funeka and ridiculous 114-114 from the other two judges, robbing Funeka of a world title.