Bute faces "The Road Warrior"

In Quebec on Saturday night Lucian Bute (29-0, 24 KO's) faces probably his toughest pro challenge yet as he faces the tough “Road Warrior” Glen Johnson (51-15-2, 35 KO's) in a defence of his IBF super middleweight crown.

Bute does have his doubters having not taken part in the Super 6, but there's no doubt this guy is world class and deserves his place at the top of boxrec's rankings having stopped so many opponents. The southpaw hasnt fought any top guy's yet and that's why people doubt him, but what he's done, he's done well. He's had two relatively easy defences this year against Northern Ireland's Brian Magee, who he dominated and beat in 10, and over in his homeland, when he beat the poor Frenchman Jean Paul Mendy in 4, Mendy should have never been given a world title chance. This is a big test for him, this is his hardest test so far on paper, and a great performance will really raise the eyebrows.

Johnson is so tough and has only been stopped once in his career, which was way back in 1997 down at middleweight by “The Executioner” Bernard Hokins. Since then he's been in with so many great fighters, most recently Carl Froch, who just outworked him over 12 in what was a great fight. He has shown in his last two fights with Allan Green, who he stopped in eight, and Froch, both in the Super 6, that he's still hungry for the game at 42 and the rankings reflect that as he is #5 in the world. There was talk before the Froch fight that he's having difficulties getting down to super middle, but I think this guy is an absolute warrior and he will be well up for another chance at a world title.

Despite Johnson being so tough, I really wouldnt be surprise if Bute was good enough to stop him. However there's a reason why Bute has been matched so carefully, I think he still needs a little bit of work, and 12 rounds with Johnson will be good preparation for what is going to be a massive 2012 for him.