Lucian ''Le Tombeur'' Bute will defend his IBF super middleweight title against Glen ''The Road Warrior'' Johnson at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Canada on Saturday night. It will be the ninth title defense for Bute, originally from Romania but now the no.1 star in Canadian boxing. He is expecting a tough battle against Johnson, the 42-year-old former IBF light heavyweight  champion who has mixed with the very best during his 18 year ring career.

Bute vs Johnson will be shown live on Box Nation [sky 456]

Although 31-year-old Bute (29-0, 24 KOs) will start as a clear favorite to retain his title against Johnson on Saturday, he is expecting a tremendous battle against an opponent that he has tremendous respect for: 

''Glen Johnson has seen almost everything in boxing.'' said Bute at the pre-fight press conference. ''He’s always there and he’s always in great condition. He’s faced all the great boxers – Jones, Tarver, Dawson twice, he even fought Hopkins in the beginning and he looked good even if he lost it.  I can say by far that he is the best opponent with the best credibility.  His resume speaks for itself, so for me it’s a major step up.'' 

Bute and Johnson are old friends and have sparred together previously. Bute does not suffer fools, and has been openly contemptuous of some opponents, but not Johnson, who remains one of the most well liked and respected fighters in boxing today. 

Bute is a ruthless operator in the ring, and friendship aside, he would surely love to be the first boxer to stop Johnson since Bernard Hopkins turned the trick in an IBF middleweight title defence in 1997, snapping the Jamaican's 32 bout winning streak with an 11th round TKO. 

Bute is idolized in Quebeck, and French speaking Canadians have christened him ''Le Tombeur'' – The Crusher – appropriate for a man who has flattened nine of his last ten opponents, and is one of the biggest punchers in the super middleweight division. Handsome and charismatic, the 6'2'' Bute is fluent in French and English as well as his native tongue. 

After a stellar amateur career, Bute chose to turn professional in Canada and made his debut with a third-round knockout of Robert Muhammad in November 2003. Bute won his first 15 fights by KO, and in June 2007 he won a 12 round decision over Sakio Bika in an IBF super middleweight title eliminator.

Bute won the IBF title in 2007 with an 11th round TKO over Colombian puncher Alejandro Berrio. After stopping former three-time middleweight champion William Joppy in his first defense, Bute caught the biggest break of his career when he avoided a 12th round knockout, thanks to some bizarre refereeing in his fight against Mexican brawler Librado Andrade. 

Bute had built up an emphatic points lead over Andrade, but the Mexican finished the late rounds like a train while Bute faded badly. By the last round, the Romanian was clinging on for dear life and with seconds to go on the clock, he was dumped in the corner by Andrade. Bute got to his feet, but before the referee continued to count he turned and remonstrated for Andrade to get back to a neutral corner. Precious seconds elapsed, and by the time the referee called ''box!'', the bell ended the fight, and Bute retained his title on a unanimous decision. Had Andrade managed to unleash one more barrage of punches on Bute, the fight would surely have been over. 

Bute and Andrade met again November 2009, and although the Mexican dominated the first three-and-a-half rounds of the fight, late in the fourth Bute floored him first with a vicious left uppercut to the head, and then put him down for keeps with the same punch to the body. It was an emphatic and career defining victory for the Romanian, and proved to the boxing world what a complete fighting machine Bute was. 

In subsequent title defenses against Edison Miranda (KO 3), Jesse Brinkley (KO 9), Brian McGee (KO 10) and Jean Paul Mendy (KO 4) Bute has displayed his trademark slick footwork, superb boxing skills and devastating repertoire of punches. He loves to box out of his southpaw stance with his right hand low, drawing his opponent on to his vicious uppercuts.

Right now Bute looks the complete package, and unsurprisingly top boxing website BoxRec.com rates him as one of the top 10 pound for pound fighters competing in the world today. 

It will take a truly exceptional performance from an exceptional fighter to dethrone Lucian Bute right now. Clearly Glen Johnson is an exceptional fighter, but at 42 years old, does he have that caliber of performance left in him? 

The last time we saw Johnson (51-15-2, 35 KOs) in action, he was fading down the stretch in his Showtime Super Six World Boxing Classic semifinal against Britain's WBC 168 lb champion Carl Froch in June. Froch won a majority decision in an extremely tough fight, and although awkward and aggressive as ever, Johnson at no time looked to have Froch in serious trouble.  

The Jamaican has mixed it up with a vast array of fighters over the last two decades, and his record reads like a 'who's-who' of the middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions from the early 90's to the presents day. 

Johnson has beaten the likes of Roy Jones Jr, Antonio Tarver, Clinton Woods, Eric Harding, Montell Griffin, Yusaf Mack and Alan Green, and dropped decisions to Tavoris Cloud, Chad Dawson, Omar Sheika, Sven Ottke, Merqui Sosa, Syd Vanderpool, Silvio Branco, Derrick Harmon and Julio Cesar Gonzalez. Many of his losses have been controversial, and he has often taken bouts on just a few days notice. Johnson has never had any qualms about facing an opponent in their own backyard, hence the ''Road Warrior'' moniker.

The 5' 11'' Johnson owes much of his longevity in the ring to his familiar high guard defence which blocks the bulk of his opponent's shots. Johnson has a great chin, is rarely on the canvas, and has only been stopped once – by Bernard Hopkins fourteen years ago – in his career. 

He is primarily a boxer-puncher, but can hit hard, as his 35 career knockouts would suggest. He won the IBF light heavyweight title in 2004 with a chilling one-punch knockout of Roy Jones Jr in the ninth round. His last two wins have been inside the distance – a 6th round TKO over Yusaf Mack in 2010, and an eighth round stoppage of Allan Green last year. 

Without doubt Johnson has the tools to compete with Bute on Saturday night. The problem is, the Romanian is a better boxer than Carl Froch, and perhaps hits harder. He certainly has more punches in his arsenal, and can hurt an opponent from any angle. Bute is deadly with his uppercuts, and Johnson's habit of marching in behind his high guard could prove to be suicidal against the Romanian. 

I feel that Bute has Johnson's number right across the board for this fight. He is younger, bigger, a better boxer, and a harder puncher. Johnson's one hope would be that Bute takes his eye off the ball long enough for him to land one of his heavy shots to the chin, a la vs Roy Jones in 2004. Unless this happens, I can see Bute delivering such a consistent beating that Johnson's corner will pull him out after nine rounds. 

Bute wins in nine. 

Big Fight Odds: Lucian Bute 1/12, Glen Johnson 6/1 bet365