Bute vs Johnson

Glen Johnson will challenge Montreal's Lucian Bute for the International Boxing Federation super middleweight title, promoter Interbox confirmed Tuesday.

The 168-pound bout will take place on Nov. 5 in Montreal or Quebec City.

Bute's trainer Stéphane Larouche told CBCSports.ca last week that it was looking like Johnson would get the nod.

Bute's final fight of 2011 had been proven problematic to put together for Interbox, Bute's promoter, and Showtime, the network televising the fight in the U.S.

Planned fights for Bute against Mikkel Kessler and then Kelly Pavlik both fellt through.

Bute (29-0, 24 knockouts) is coming off a fourth round KO win in July in his birthplace, Romania, over International Boxing Federation mandatory challenger Jean-Paul Mendy of France. It was his sixth consecutive stoppage win.

The Jamaican-born Miami native Johnson is well known and has sparred with Bute in the past. He made his name in the 175-pound division with wins over the likes of Antonio Tarver and Roy Jones Jr.

Johnson, 42, is coming off a decision loss to Briton Carl Froch in June, but Larouche saw that as an opportunity.

"Can Lucian do better than [Froch]? Can Lucian stop him? That could be interesting," he said.

The last time the iron-chinned Johnson was stopped was in a 160-pound title against Bernard Hopkins way back in 1997, and he's never been knocked out.

Kessler is scheduled to fight in his native Denmark against Robert Steiglitz on Nov. 5, and according to multiple reports on boxing's websites on Tuesday, Showtime will pair that fight with the Bute-Johnson battle as part of the same telecast.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/moresports/story/2011/08/16/sp-bute-johnson.html#ixzz1VJP0OTU0

Tough fight for Bute, but I think he manages it.

Bute beats Johnson like a dead fish.