ESPN Boxing

No matter what happens when super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute faces former two-time titleholder Carl Froch, he won't use a recent foot infection as an excuse, according to trainer Stephan Larouche.

Bute (30-0, 24 KOs), the Montreal star, will defend his title -- his 10th defense -- at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, England, where Super Six World Boxing Classic runner-up Froch (28-2, 20 KOs) is from, on Saturday night (6 p.m. ET, Epix and EpixHD.com).

Earlier this month, Bute was nursing an infection in his right foot and was on antibiotics during the height of his training camp. Larouche said the issue arose after Bute tried a new shoe about a month ago.

"Lucian had two blisters," Larouche said. "Lucian kept telling me, 'I'm having a little bit more pain in this one,' and I kept telling him, 'Well, it's not the end of the world,' until one day, he had some blood coming out of it, and the blood was not nice colors.

"So we lead him to the doctors. The doctors said had he not come to see [them], you're going to lose your [big] toe. It's a major infection and the infection was up to the ankle."

At that point, Bute went on the antibiotics for about 10 days.

"Everything has disappeared," Larouche said. "He has no more infection. We cannot even see it no more, so he's bouncing as he used to. Perfect feet right now."

Larouche said if there was any issue with the infection, Bute would have withdrawn from the fight.

Then Larouche took a shot at former heavyweight titlist David Haye of England, who used a sore little toe as an excuse for his lopsided points loss against champion Wladimir Klitschko last summer.

"It's not going to be a toe story," Larouche said.

Picking on the heavyweight division these days is pretty easy. In an era when champion brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko stand head and shoulders above the rest of the field, the popular refrain is that there's no competition in the weight class for them and that the division is a waste of time.

Between them, the brothers Klitschko have, in their current title reigns, combined to make 18 defenses since 2006. They have dominated every single one of the fights, without exception, and won 13 of them by knockout.

It doesn't help matters, at least on this side of the pond, that there is such a dearth of American contenders, especially when Americans used to own the division.

And because, as we all know, the Klitschkos have said since Day 1 that they will never fight each other, many have just written off the division. HBO and Showtime, the leaders in American televised boxing, have all but given up on it. Even when HBO dipped its toe back into the heavyweight business last year, making a deal with the Klitschkos to televise Wladimir's defense against David Haye and Vitali's against Tomasz Adamek, it didn't get one competitive round out of the 22 combined in the two fights. Maybe the most compelling drama in both bouts was watching Haye embarrass himself by blaming his loss on a sore toe and then whipping out the digit to show HBO analyst Larry Merchant in his postfight interview.

But you know what? A funny thing happened on the way to the heavyweight black hole: The division is actually starting to perk up. There are reasons to watch, fighters to be interested in and, lately, some pretty good bouts.

Two weeks ago, Vitali rolled to a lopsided unanimous decision against British crazy man Dereck Chisora, essentially as a one-armed fighter because he suffered a left shoulder ligament tear early in the fight. It was the first of three heavyweight title bouts in three weeks on American premium network Epix, which has picked up the slack for HBO and Showtime. But although it was a one-sided fight on the scorecards, it was an absolutely entertaining scrap (watched by more than 13 million people on German network RTL), probably Vitali's most exciting bout since his 2004 brawl with Corrie Sanders. And Chisora certainly spiced things up with his loose cannon behavior before the fight (when he slapped Vitali at the weigh-in and then spit water in Wladimir's face in the ring before the bout began) and after the fight, when Chisora instigated a brawl with Haye at the press conference. Chisora behaved like a buffoon, but for better or worse, he brought a lot of attention and excitement to the division.

It wasn't Chisora's first entertaining fight, either. His loss (a robbery!) to Robert Helenius (another young contender to keep an eye on) in December was an entertaining fight, as was his collision last summer with England's up-and-coming Tyson Fury, who also has been in some entertaining bouts.

Just last week, Alexander Povetkin defended his version of the title against Marco Huck, a cruiserweight titleholder who moved up in weight. It was a terrific fight -- one of the best in the heavyweight division in a long time -- even if the majority decision awarding the decision to Povetkin wasn't so good.

But Povetkin is a normal-sized heavyweight, not a giant like the Klitschkos, so Huck wasn't overmatched despite his moving up to heavyweight for the first time. Povetkin has been in other good fights as well.

If you can put the Klitschkos to the side for just a minute, there are good fights that can be made involving Chisora (assuming he keeps his license following his latest antics), Adamek (who returns from his loss to Vitali on March 24) and the always-entertaining Cristobal Arreola (who two weeks ago won a fight that lasted only one round but was quite exciting).

Hopefully, Huck will stick around at heavyweight, too, because a pressure fighter with a big right hand and a big heart is always welcome.

Even though it wasn't the most significant heavyweight fight, Americans Bryant Jennings and Maurice Byarm, who were pressed into action at the last minute on Jan. 21 when the original main event fell out, produced a fun heavyweight fight in the first main event of the new "Fight Night" series on NBC Sports Net.

There are other heavyweights to watch who could develop, including Seth Mitchell (America's current best hope); younger and rawer American Deontay Wilder (a 2008 Olympic medalist who is 21-0 with 21 KOs and has a massive right hand but who hasn't fought anyone with a pulse); British giant David Price (a 2008 Olympic medalist who is 12-0 with 10 KOs); Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev (15-0 with 7 KOs, who goes for the vacant European title March 31); and Ireland-based Cuban Mike Perez (18-0, 12 KOs), who has looked good in recent fights.

So even though Wladimir is expected to roll through yet another title defense, this time against former cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck, on Saturday, just as he and his brother have made routine, it doesn't mean the heavyweight division is dead.

You just have to respect the historic dominance of the Klitschko brothers and then take a minute to look beyond them for satisfaction. If you do, you'll find that the heavyweight division isn't so bad after all.

When it comes to cruiserweight titleholders moving up to conquer the heavyweight division, many have tried. Most have failed.

In recent years, cruiserweight champions such as Tomasz Adamek, Juan Carlos Gomez and James Toney have made the attempt. Adamek and Gomez were both dominated and knocked out by Vitali Klitschko when they got their shots. Toney outpointed John Ruiz in a title bout, but the result was negated because Toney tested positive for steroids after the fight.

Other cruiserweight titleholders have fought at heavyweight but had only middling success and never even got a title opportunity, including Vassiliy Jirov, Bobby Czyz and Orlin Norris.

Only two have made the successful jump.

Evander Holyfield was the undisputed cruiserweight champion and eventually the undisputed heavyweight champion. He was the real deal at both weights. Many years later, David Haye, who won three of the four major alphabet belts and was generally considered the real cruiserweight champ, also moved up to heavyweight and claimed a belt in 2009, even though he was never the legitimate champion (and made more news with his mouth and sore toe than his actual heavyweight fighting ability).

Next up to try is Germany’s Marco Huck (34-1, 25 KOs), who I regard as the No. 1 cruiserweight in the world. He won a belt in 2009 and has made eight defenses.

Now Huck, an aggressive crowd pleaser and a good puncher, is doing what other cruiserweights have done before him -- moving up for the opportunity to win a heavyweight belt. Huck challenges Russia’s Alexander Povetkin for his title Saturday (Epix and EpixHD.com, 4 p.m. ET) in Stuttgart, Germany.

Even though Povetkin holds a second-tier tissue-paper thin WBA belt (the WBA loves to give out multiple titles in the same division to collect a few extra bucks) when we all know the legit champ is Wladimir Klitschko, it will be still be an accomplishment if Huck can topple Povetkin (23-0, 16 KOs), a 2004 Olympic gold medalist and legitimate top 5 heavyweight.

"I know this is a gigantic task,” Huck said through a translator. “It can write boxing history and following the path of superstars like Holyfield and Haye would be fantastic. It’s going to be tough though because Povetkin is a very accomplished fighter. But I will win.

“I’m ready to become heavyweight champion. I would not have taken the fight if I didn’t believe in myself. Povetkin is good, but I can beat him. We once did sparring together and he has bad memories of me.”
Huck is even boldly predicting a knockout.

“I plan to show my fans a great fight, which will end in a KO victory for me,” Huck said. “Povetkin is a great champion but I will defeat him and finally accomplish my goal of becoming word heavyweight champion.”
Povetkin will be making his second title defense. When he was presented with Huck as a possible opponent, he didn’t expect it.

“At first I was surprised about Huck’s challenge because he has never fought at heavyweight before, but I am happy to defend my title against anybody out there,” said Povetkin, also through a translator. “I am in great shape and I will win.”

I think the match has all the makings of an exciting fight. Although Huck is moving up in weight, Povetkin isn’t a giant like the Klitschko brothers, so I think it will be competitive. Promoter Kalle Sauerland agrees.

“This is what the heavyweight division needs. It will be very exciting,” he said. “Both are fast, aggressive, strong and full of confidence. And both do not always have the best defense.”

Povetkin will enter the fight with a new trainer. Gone is Teddy Atlas, who is also the ESPN2 “Friday Night Fights” analyst. Atlas was very critical in helping Povetkin navigate tough moments in his title-winning effort against Ruslan Chagaev in August, so his absence could be a factor.

Atlas’ deal with Povetkin required him to train in the United States while Atlas was in season for “FNF.” Atlas would go to Europe to train him during the show’s August-January hiatus. Povetkin didn’t honor the commitment to train in America for the Chagaev fight, so Atlas, only a few weeks before the fight, went to Russia and missed the final few “FNF” cards last season. Atlas was not happy about it and, understandably, refused to do it again.

That means Alexander Zimin -- who trained former heavyweight titlist Nikolai Valuev -- is now in charge of Povetkin’s corner.

“I have had a very good preparation with Alexander Zimin, all went very well,” Povetkin said. “I am ready for Saturday. I am here to defend my title. I will win.”

Heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko has a fight right in front of him, but a possible defense against former titleholder David Haye -- who embarrassed himself in a lopsided loss to Klitschko's brother, fellow champ Wladimir Klitschko, this past summer -- is still a regular topic of conversation.

One of the reasons Klitschko's eighth title defense is scheduled against Dereck Chisora, Haye's British countryman, on Saturday (Epix and EpixHD.com, 4:30 p.m. ET) in Munich, Germany, is because negotiations for a fight with Haye bogged down due to Haye's indecision.

Even with Chisora in front of their fighter, Klitschko's team continues to try to make a deal for him to take on Haye next. Klitschko, however, said it doesn't look very promising.

"David Haye is so unpredictable and we tried to make a deal and I hope the fight comes through, but right now we are miles apart from making the contract," Klitschko said on a teleconference on Wednesday. "Right now, I don't want to talk about it. I am focused totally for the Chisora fight and I hope that after Dereck Chisora, David Haye changes his mind and I can give a chance to David Haye to fight for a world title.

"Everyone, every fighter, has a dream to fight for a world title, and I tell every time to David Haye: 'Please fight me. Please fight for the world title.' It's the most prestigious title in the world. And then, if he doesn't want to do that, it's OK. David Haye always tries to find excuses why fights do not happen. I hope David Haye one day makes a decision to fight me."

A few months after Wladimir Klitschko made Haye look like a fool after all of the challenger's trash-talking, Haye announced a retirement nobody believed would stick. Not long after, he began talking about a fight with Vitali, who would be a massive favorite over Haye in a fight that I don't have much interest in. Had Haye lost to Wladimir but at least turned in a top effort, that would be a different story. Instead, Haye took the money and ran. He flopped to the canvas time and again, and then blamed his miserable performance on a sore pinkie toe. In my view, he doesn't deserve another title shot or a big payday until he earns it.

Vitali Klitschko (43-2, 40 KOs) said he expects Chisora (15-2, 9 KOs) to put up a better fight against him than Haye did against his brother. (Is it possible to put up a worse fight?)

"David Haye didn't want to fight. He just kept running away from my brother," Vitali said. "He didn't come in to fight. I expect a better fight from Dereck Chisora. He's actually a fighter. He wants to go in and fight and to go the distance. He tries to challenge his opponent, and I didn't see that in the last fight between David Haye against Wladimir Klitschko. And that's why they both have totally different styles. Dereck Chisora is more aggressive than David Haye."

Yes, 2011 is in the books, but as is usually the case, the Fight Freaks have been tweeting me for more boxing award winners than just those I handed out last week. I'm here to serve. Now that I've borrowed Adrien Broner's brush and styled my hair, here are a few more, with Part 2 coming tomorrow:

Trainer of the year: There were several good candidates, including Robert Garcia (who trains, among others, Nonito Donaire and Brandon Rios); Freddie Roach (Manny Pacquiao, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Amir Khan), who has made the running for this award his personal playground in recent years; Barry Hunter (whose charge, Lamont Peterson, upended Khan); and Ann Wolfe, who deserves a ton of credit for the rebound of James Kirkland. But I'm going with Virgil Hunter, who led Andre Ward to unifying two super middleweight titles, the Super Six championship and fighter of the year honors. Hunter has trained Ward since he first picked up gloves as a kid, and they have climbed the mountain together. Now they can celebrate together.

Comeback of the year: You could certainly go with Kirkland, who returned to Wolfe and eventually outslugged Alfredo Angulo to rebound from a shocking first-round knockout loss to Nobuhiro Ishida. But I'm going with Erik Morales, whose return in 2010 from a 2½-year retirement looked like it would be spent fighting low-level opponents. But in 2011, Morales begged Golden Boy for a fight with Marcos Maidana, which everyone but Morales thought was a very bad, unhealthy idea. Many believed the Nevada commission shouldn't have approved the fight, calling it a death match. Instead, although Morales lost a majority decision, it was a massive upset that he was even still standing after a few rounds, much less that he made it an exceptionally competitive fight. Morales had turned back the clock. For good measure, he claimed a vacant junior welterweight belt (albeit a paper one, because it had been disgustingly stripped from Timothy Bradley Jr.) in his next fight.

Three Blind Mice robbery of the year: Three stand out -- junior middleweight Erislandy Lara getting ripped off against Paul Williams, Matthew Macklin being shafted in a middleweight title bout in Germany against hometown fighter Felix Sturm and heavyweight Dereck Chisora getting similar treatment against Robert Helenius in his native Finland. But Lara-Williams was the worst. While Williams was getting hammered so badly that HBO's announcers discussed the notion that he should retire, judges Hilton Whitaker (115-114), Don Givens (116-114) and Al Bennett (114-114) were tallying scorecards that were so abominable that the New Jersey commission suspended them indefinitely. They still haven't been reinstated.

Non-event of the year: Same as 2010. No Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight. And the soap opera continues.

TruTV court story of the year: Mayweather dealt with multiple court cases -- none more serious than the eight charges (four felonies and four misdemeanors) related to a domestic violence incident with his ex-girlfriend, the mother of three of his children. Mayweather eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge and no contest on two harassment charges. He was sentenced to six months in county jail in Nevada, three of which were suspended. Instead of arranging the monster fight with Pacquiao, Mayweather, one of boxing's two most famous fighters, will spend the early part of 2012 in the can. He's due to report to jail Friday. He could be out by mid-March, but surely he won't fight in May as originally planned.

TMZ scandal of the year: Oscar De La Hoya went to rehab for drug and alcohol abuse. Then he admitted to multiple affairs, suicidal thoughts and came clean about those bizarre photos of him that wound up on the Internet a couple of years ago -- the ones supposedly taken by a stripper he was partying with in a hotel room showing him in sexually suggestive positions while wearing fishnet stockings, a woman's wig, panties and high heels -- admitting that they were indeed authentic.

All bark, no bite award: David Haye, obviously. After a couple of years of ducking heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko and trash-talking him to no end, Haye finally manned up and got into the ring. Instead of actually fighting and trying to back up his stream of venom, Haye spent more time flopping to the mat looking for penalty points than fighting as Klitschko kicked his butt in a virtual shutout. Then Haye made himself the laughingstock of boxing when he complained that he lost because of a sore pinky toe, even taking off his boot to show off the digit after his shameful performance. Haye showed himself to be a classless buffoon. The only bigger joke than Haye was his toe-tally pitiful excuse.

Video of the year: After all the trash-talking Haye did, Klitschko responded with this brilliant Internet video shortly after his July victory.

Boxing body parts of the year: 1. Haye's toe; 2. Antonio Margarito's right eye; 3. Pawel Wolak's hematoma; 4. Bernard Hopkins' left shoulder.

Non-effort of the year (after Haye's): It's a tie. Shane Mosley spent 12 rounds trying to touch gloves with Pacquiao instead of fighting, and Omar Narvaez ran from Donaire for 12 rounds -- and hopefully had his visa revoked when he returned to Argentina so that we never have to see him fight on U.S. soil again.

Non-sanctioned fight of the year: Junior middleweight titlist Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, with his 46-pound weight advantage, allegedly beating up junior flyweight titlist Ulises Solis in a street fight over a girl in Mexico.

Interview of the year: So upset by the decision after his fight with Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez didn't stick around in the ring to do an interview with HBO's Max Kellerman. So the cameras went to his dressing room, where Marquez agreed to talk. Having already stripped out of his ring gear, Marquez gave Kellerman an interview seated with a sombrero strategically positioned over his junk.

Faker of the year: Likar Ramos turned in an award-winning performance in his supposed first-round knockout loss to Marquez, who was using the fight as a tune-up for his third meeting with Pacquiao. Marquez landed a nice right hand, but you'd have thought Ramos got hit by Mike Tyson given the ridiculously exaggerated manner in which he went down. It looked like a tank job. I've seen better acting in the WWE.

Ducker of the year: Bradley. After repeatedly calling out Amir Khan for a junior welterweight unification fight, Khan accepted and HBO made deals with their promoters for a July fight. But Bradley, using the excuse of a feud with promoter Gary Shaw, refused. After Khan called his bluff and offered to do a 50-50 deal, including giving Bradley half of his British television money, which is unheard of, Bradley still balked. Then Bradley had the audacity to say that fighting Khan would do nothing for his career. Instead, he left Shaw, signed with Top Rank and beat the totally shot Joel Casamayor in a terrible fight. So what did that do for his career?

Most inspiring: Hands down, Dewey Bozella, who spent 26 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit and, at age 52, finally lived out his dream by making his pro debut in October. He won on the Hopkins-Chad Dawson undercard at the Staples Center. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.

Biggest miracle: The Super Six World Boxing Classic actually reached its conclusion as Ward painted a masterpiece to unify super middleweight titles by easily outpointing Carl Froch.

Biggest bummer: Kelly Pavlik, who simply cannot get his life together as what little is left of his career circles the bowl.

In memoriam: Among those we lost in 2011 were Joe Frazier, Nick Charles, Genaro Hernandez, Gil Clancy, Bouie Fisher, George Benton, Bill Gallo, Ron Lyle, Henry Cooper, Gary Mason, Billy Costello, Butch Lewis and Scott LeDoux. Rest in peace.