Unbeaten Lucian Bute knocked out Librado Andrade in the fourth round on Saturday to retain his International Boxing Federation super middleweight world title.
The Romanian-born Bute, who has become a hero in his adopted Canada, dropped the Mexican challenger for the first time in the fourth with a short left to the chin — sending a crowd of 16,000 into a frenzy.
Bute then connected with a left to the midriff that sent Andrade down for the count at 2:57 of the fourth.
Bute improved to 25-0 with 20 knockouts, while Andrade fell to 28-3 with 21 wins inside the distance. Bute said the knockout was just what he had in mind.
“That’s what I trained for,” said Bute, who wanted to erase the memory of his first fight with Andrade in October last year.
Then, Bute dominated Andrade in Montreal until the final 90 seconds, before the challenger unleashed a desperate comeback that many thought Bute was lucky to escape.
Andrade was trying to become the first world champion from Mexico in the super middleweight division.
On the undercard, South Africa’s Ali Funeka punished former two-division world champion Joan Guzman but emerged with only a controversial majority draw in a fight for the vacant IBF lightweight title. One ringside judge scored it 116-112 for Funeka, while the remaining two saw it 114-114 to leave the title still vacant.
Dominican Guzman remained unbeaten with a record of 29-0-1 with 17 wins inside the distance. Funeka moved to 30-2-2 with 25 knockouts.
It was a second North American disappointment for Funeka, who took on American Nate Campbell for the IBF and World Boxing Association lightweight belts in February. Campbell failed to make weight and was forced to give up the belts. He then beat Funeka to deny the South African’s bid to claim the vacant titles.
“I traveled a long way from South Africa to prove I’m the best in the lightweight division,” Funeka said. “What can I do? I don’t even know what I can say.”
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
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