Magee KO’d

Magee: KO'd in 10th

Brian Magee dreams of bringing home a world title were dashed last night in the battle of the southpaws.

After the first five rounds, which were surprisingly even, Lucian Bute showed he is a level above Magee by dropping him in the sixth and seventh before stopping him in the 10th.

So in the end I was pretty close with my prediction but Magee did well to make it to the 10th round. He was put down in the sixth with a sharp left to the body and Magee did well to recover, only be dropped by the same punch again in the seventh. The crowd, and those watching, could sense that the KO was close.

And it came in the 10th (three rounds later than I predicted) as Bute landed with a blow to the head that dropped the Northern Irishmen to his knees, giving the referee no choice but to stop the fight.

In all honesty the result was never in doubt and it was only a matter of time before Bute’s class told, but Magee should take heart from his performance but I stand by my opinion; this sort of level is just beyond Magee.

He is a fine European level champion but the world-class level is out of his reach I’m afraid.

Below is the footage of Magee being KO’d (couldn’t find the English commentary version):

In other British boxing news, Willie Casey was destroyed in the first round by WBA super-bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux.

Casey was dropped three times by the fleet-footed champ before the fight was finally waved off. The gulf in class was evident from the start and even though I expected a KO win for Rigondeaux, I didn’t see it coming in the first round.

Below is the footage of Rigondeaux KO of Casey:

Chance of a lifetime for Magee

Magee: Massive chance

Brian Magee has the opportunity of a lifetime as he goes for Lucian Butes’ IBF Super-Middleweight title tonight in Montreal.

Magee, who holds the European super-middleweight title, will attempt to defeat the highly rated Bute as he tries to bring a world title back to Northern Ireland.

The super-middleweight division is looking quite hot right now with the likes of Carl Froch and Andre Ward holding WBC and WBA titles respectively. Bute, to me, stands alongside them as the divisions best and I can see nothing but a KO victory for hard-hitting Canadian.

No disrespect to Magee, who is a fine champion in his own right, but this sort of level is just a level too high I’m afraid and I believe Magee will be exposed inside 7 rounds.

Magee will have to show plenty of heart and determination to get anything from this fight and if he is to bring back the world title, he’ll have to do it via KO. There is no way the Canadian judges will let him leave with the title if it comes down to the cards, just ask Bernard Hopkins.

But, as I said earlier, I think Bute will win via KO and then hopefully fight the winner of the Super Six in a unification bout, which hopefully will mean a fight with Nottingham’s own Carl Froch.

Who knows, by the end of this year Britain could have its fair share of undisputed world champions if everything goes to plan.

The future is definitely looking bright for British boxing.