Undefeated Canadian IBF super-middleweight champion Lucian Bute (29-0, 24KO’s) has been a World champion for four years now with eight successive title defences under his belt, but the Quebec fighter has yet to truly make his name on the international stage, despite his obvious talents.

On Saturday night at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City Bute will face arguably the biggest name opponent of his career to date, defending his title against former light-heavyweight champion Glen Johnson (51-15-2, 35KO’s). Ironically the pair have sparred regularly for the past two years and have become good friends, but as Johnson points out, sparring and fighting are not the same thing.

“He’s a great fighter,” Johnson said of Bute. “He has a lot of talents, a lot of skills. He shows a lot of guts in his fights. He has fast hands. He’s strong. He ranks among the best guys, but this is not sparring, this is fighting. It’s a whole different level of fighting.”

Johnson is coming off a loss to WBC super-middleweight champion Carl Froch in the semi-final of Showtime’s Super Six tournament but is far from finished as a top-level fighter even at 42. To prove what great shape Johnson is in, he made the 168lb limit for his last two fights after spending the previous ten years as a 175lb light-heavyweight. Whether he will have enough to negate a fighter as skillful as Bute seems unlikely, but Johnson always comes to fight.

Should Bute be victorious it is likely that he will face the winner of the Super Six final between Carl Froch and Andre Ward next year so cannot afford any mistakes at this point. The fight, going out on Showtime in the States, is a big platform for Bute to showcase his skills and prove to the American audience that he is the real deal. That’s why, despite their friendship, Bute insists he is ready to go out there and win.

“I really cheered for him when he fought Allan Green and also when he fought Carl Froch,” Bute said of Johnson. “But with this, my career is on the line. It has nothing to do with respect or the friendship. If I have to fight, I’m going to give it my all. There are no friends in the ring; we’re going to be friends after the bout. They can’t take away what I’ve been working for.”

“My dream has been to fight in the U.S. in a great boxing market like New York and Las Vegas,” he said. “My first objective was to win a world championship. I’ve done that. My next goal is to fight in front of the U.S. crowd in a big fight.”

The fight wont be easy for Bute. Johnson is a relentless pressure fighter who keeps his hands high and the punches flowing. Also Johnson has proven that he has plenty of power, boasting KO victories over the likes of Roy Jones, Yusaf Mack and most recently Allan Green. Bute cannot afford to become complacent for a second but if he performs to his best he should have enough to defeat the grizzly old veteran over twelve rounds.

Bute is best when he is thinking about what he’s doing, and countering his opponent from his southpaw stance. He can control Johnson like a matador with a bull if he focuses and fights the right fight. Johnson will bring only one gameplan, to walk forward with his head down, letting his hands go. It is possible he could get to Bute, especially in the later stages, with his relentless pressure.

Johnson’s chances of pulling off the upset seem unlikely though, and although he says he wasn’t happy with his previous fight, the loss to Froch, it maybe showed some sign of decline in the Miami-based fighter’s capability, although he insists it was merely a blip.

“I was very disappointed in my last fight (a majority decision loss to WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch in June), and I made some corrections, so I’m looking to be successful in this one.”

“Certainly it would be remarkable for me to win a championship at this stage of my career,” he says. “It’s something I really want to accomplish, so I put 110% into it.”

“I’m going to shock and amaze these people in Quebec. They’re looking for another win from Lucian Bute, but I have totally different plans.”

On the undercard former Johnson foe Allan Green (30-3, 21KO’s) will face Sebastian Demers (31-4, 11KO’s) over ten in a must win fight for both men, plus former two-time IBF super-bantamweight champion Steve Molitor (33-2, 12KO’s) returns from his defeat to Takalani Ndlovu with a reasonably tough test against Sebastien Gaulthier (31-4, 11KO’s), also over ten rounds.

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