Bute outpoints Johnson in title defense

Montreal fighter Lucian Bute successfully defended his IBF super-middleweight title with a one-sided decision over Glen Johnson on Saturday night.

The 31-year-old Bute improved to 30-0, winning all 12 rounds on two judges' cards and 11 of 12 on the other in front of a crowd of 15,306 at the Colisee.

''It was a great fight and a great performance for me,'' said Bute, born in Romania. ''Glen Johnson is a great fighter. To beat him, you have to avoid the jab. I did that and I tried to out-jab him. I have to be able to beat guys like him.''

The 42-year-old Johnson dropped to 51-16-2. He has lost four of his last six fights.

The Jamaican injured his right arm in the fight.

''I think I won the fight,'' said Johnson, known as the Road Warrior because he often fights in his opponents' home cities. ''I beat him with one hand.

''It's tough to win in your opponent's hometown because as soon as he does one little thing, the crowd goes crazy instead of paying attention to what the punches are telling you.''

On the undercard, Canadian super-bantamweight Steve Molitor improved to 34-2, outpointing Quebec fighter Sebastien Gauthier in a 10-round split decision.

Molitor had winning scores of 96-94 and 96-94 and other judge had it 96-94 for Gauthier.

Hometown fighter Pier-Olivier Cote (18-0) stopped American Jorge Luis Teron in the second round to take the vacant IBF Intercontinental light weltwerweight title.

Local favorite Kevin Bizier (15-0) drew a rousing cheer when he stopped Danish veteran Christian Bladt with a straight left to the jaw in the third round of their welterweight bout. American featherweight Rances Barthelemy (14-0) used his long reach to knock down Mexico's Alejandro Barrera (21-10) three times en route to a second-round stoppage.