By: Christopher Roche

Lucian Bute is wildly popular in his hometown of Montreal, and his sparkling record has him ranked as the number one super middleweight in the Boxrec compilations. According to Boxrec, Bute is ranked ahead of Jermain Taylor, Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler.

Despite the high praise, many casual boxing fans have never seen Bute fight, and after he was nearly flattened in the twelfth round against Liberado Andrade back in October, mainstream observers questioned whether Bute was worthy of the accolades he receives.

Bute, for his part, appears to be an affable showman who is not afraid to face his critics. Before his Showbox bout last night, he did not dodge the questions about his final frame meltdown against Andrade, and he assured the audience he was over it. Against a decent challenger in Fulgencio Zuniga, Bute passed the test and quelled his critics. With one of the more vicious body shots we will see this year, Bute dropped Zuniga and then finished him off in round four. What makes this all the more impressive, is that Zuniga had never been stopped, save for one bout against Kelly Pavlik, which was due to cuts.

So who is Lucian Bute? With his left handed stance, tall frame and in and out style, some might initially liken him to Joe Calzaghe. Like Calzaghe, Bute normally fights in his own backyard; he is very popular, and he has flair as a showman. However, after watching a few of Bute