THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — Lucian Bute sported a nasty shiner and a big smile as he held up his IBF world boxing championship belt Friday.
The 27-year-old from Montreal via Romania stopped champion Alejandro Berrio at 1:24 of the 11th round of their super-middleweight title fight before a delirious Bell Centre crowd of 13,244.
"He’s the hardest hitter I’ve ever faced," said Bute (21-0), who won on his first attempt at a world title. "He hit me a couple of times, but I was never hurt.
"I’m proud of my performance."
Bute recovered from some early trouble to win most of the rounds until he backed the 26-5-0 Colombian into a corner in the 11th. He rocked Berrio with a hook and an uppercut and battered him until referee Marlon Wright stepped in to stop the bout.
Berrio lost in his first defence, the 31-year-old having won the vacant 168-pound belt on March 3 by stopping Robert Stieglitz of Germany in the third round.
Berrio, who had knocked out opponents in 25 of his 26 wins, was reading Bute’s movements early on and landing rights, including one that caused a swelling under his right eye in the third round.
Trainer Stephan Larouche said they changed tactics after the third so that Bute kept more distance and waited for his attacks.
"Berrio was finding it too easy to find the target," said Larouche. "That’s how Lucian got that swelling.
"It was like we had been fighting in a phone booth."
It was a big night for Bute, with the large crowd and live television audiences in Canada and Romania. And he had to call his mother in Galati, Romania, after the bout.
"I realized my dream — I’m champion," said Bute, who shed some tears in the ring when the fight was stopped. "I knew I was ahead, but I didn’t think it would take until the 11th to finish it."
The victory came one day short of the fourth anniversary of Bute’s signing with Montreal promoter InterBox after arriving from Romania.
Bute, who has resident status and is in the process of obtaining Canadian citizenship, was tabbed as world championship material from Day One for his quickness, his quirky left-handed style and his willingness to work in the gym.
He became mandatory challenger for the title with a 12-round unanimous decision on June 15 over Sakio Bika of Australia.
He is now Canada’s third fighter currently holding a world title, after IBF super-bantamweight champ Steve Molitor of Mississauga, Ont., and WBA super-welterweight title holder Joachim Alcine of Laval, Que.
Molitor makes a second defence of his belt next Saturday against Fashung 3K Battery of Thailand at Casino Rama near Orilla, Ont., while Alcine makes his first defence Dec. 7 at the Bell Centre against Alfonso Mosquera..
Super-lightweight Herman Ngoudjo of Montreal is to challenge American Paul Malignaggi for the IBF belt on Jan. 5 at a site yet to be determined in the United States.
Bute plans to take a vacation and then get back in the gym.
He will likely make an optional defence early in the new year, but must face the No. 1 contender within nine months.
Matchmaker Don Majesky said likely opponents for the optional would be Stieglitz, Christian Sanavia of Italy or Librado Andrade of Mexico.
An even bigger-money bout would be to face the winner of a Roy Jones Jr-Felix Trinidad clash, he said.
"He’ll be very busy and very rich," Majesky predicted with a smile, adding that it is too early in Bute’s career to take on WBO champ Joe Calzaghe or WBC title holder Mikkel Kessler, who face each other on Nov. 3 in Wales.
In the co-feature, Jo Jo Dan (19-0) won his first continental belt, that of the NABA, when the Romanian-born Montreal lefthander dropped American Paul Delagado (19-8-1) with a body shot 2:32 into the 12th round.
Dan showed brilliant technique on both defence and attack but had little pop in the punches against Delgado, who may have been looking for a disqualification for a low blow when he went down. Instead, he was counted out.
Delgado, who twice went the distance with Malignaggi, had been hit low in the fifth and Dan had been warned later for low shots, although the knockout blow looked legitimate.
On the undercard, Bute’s regular sparring partner Carl Handy (22-7-2) of New Orleans stopped Eduardo Rojas (7-17-8) of Argentina in the fourth round of a scheduled six-round light heavyweight clash with his second knockdown.
Super-featherweight Baha Laham of Montreal improved to 6-0 with a six-round decision over Juan Carlos Pastrana (8-2-1) of Argentina.
In a women’s bout, Danielle Bouchard (8-1-1) of Montreal won all four super-bantamweight rounds against Liliana Balles (1-3) of Brazil.
A scheduled fight between Victor Lupo of Montreal and Stephane Savage of Longueuil, Que., was cancelled.