Lucian Bute team in talks with Showtime
In devising of Showtime’s Super Six World Boxing Classic, it couldn’t have escaped anyone in the boxing community that Lucian Bute was passed over in silence and not given an invitation to the tournament.
After all, Bute was already the IBF super middleweight champion, and had defended his title successfully on Showtime before the tournament got under way—making the fact that he was passed over even more dubious.
According to many boxing insiders, the political and economic reasons for a Bute-less Super Six were simple: by leaving Bute out, he could strategically be used after the competition, against the fighters that come out on top.
But as Dan Rafael of ESPN confirms, now it seems Showtime has other plans, as the network is in talks with InterBox, who promote Bute, for a three-fight deal.
"A lot of things change in boxing," Jean Bedard, InterBox president recently said.
Even after Showtime’s VP of Sports Programming Ken Hershman overlooked Bute, he’s currently negotiating a deal for the fighter with Bedard.
"We are working on something, but nothing is finalized," Bedard admitted. "We are in serious discussions right now. That is as far as I can go right now. But what I can tell you is, yes, we are working on something.”
When asked about the current arrangement, Showtime spokesperson Chris DeBlasio said that the network doesn’t have a comment.
Once the Super Six tournament kicked off in 2009, little effort was made to keep Bute on board, so he took his talents to HBO, who were more than happy to oblige. HBO featured a rematch of his with Librado Andrade and another bout with Edison Miranda, both
of which were summed up with a stunning knock-out courtesy of Bute.
In a most recent fight with Jesse Brinkley, Bute found himself without HBO backing, but the broadcasting company has expressed keen interest in a bout between him and Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik.
Tags: