The Canadian Press
MONTREAL — Lucian Bute sounded cool and confident his super-middleweight belt will stay in Montreal following his bout with hammer-fisted Colombian Edison Miranda on Saturday night.
The two opponents faced off for the final time at a weigh-in Friday in advance of their showdown at the Bell Centre. Both boxers tipped the scales well under the 168-pound limit.
Bute (25-0, 20 KOs), the local product who is making the fifth defence of his IBF world title, weighed in at 167.2 pounds. His challenger Miranda (33-4, 29 KOs), who is making his second attempt at a world championship crown, came in at an even 167 pounds.
"I'm not nervous, I did everything I had to do to be well-prepared for this fight," said Bute, 29. "Miranda is a hard puncher but my speed and my skills will be my advantage to stay world champion. The belt will stay in Montreal and I can't wait for (Saturday)."
"Respect his power, and don't go testing it just for fun," was the advice of Bute's trainer Stephane Larouche in going in against yet another power puncher. "He's more enthusiastic than ever, he knows this is just the beginning of big fights to come."
In Montreal for the event will be U.S.-based cable giant HBO for the first time to televise the bout as part of a special double-header with a middleweight showdown in Atlantic City between Kelly Pavlik and Sergio Martinez of Argentina.
"He seems to have all the skills," said Luis Barragan, director of Programming for HBO Sports which first featured the flashy southpaw in his last fight - a convincing fourth-round knockout of the usually durable Librado Andrade.
"We had to see if the spotless record for a Canadian fighter was for real or if it was just padding. Watching him though we see what his real skills are."
As many as 14,000 are expected to show up for the Bell Centre show on a night when the Montreal Canadiens will be on the road playing Game 2 of their opening-round series versus the Washington Capitals.
"I'm very relaxed and well prepared," said Miranda, who will be making his second fight under the tutelage of famed Los Angeles based trainer Joe Goosen. "I'm way better and tomorrow you will see the change. I'd say I'm 35 per cent better than what I was."
The usual trash-talking Miranda has been unusually quiet during the weeks leading up to the fight, but was quite intense during the stare-down with the champion.
"I had to give him a message, the world knows me," said Miranda. "I'm not the type of fighter that Bute has knocked out before, I'm a warrior. I'm going in there to take the title, and whatever my trainer wants me to do, I'll do. I'm going to take the title home, I don't know how, but I know I will."
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