MONTREAL (AP) — Lucian Bute of Montreal will defend his IBF super middleweight title in his native Romania against unbeaten Jean-Paul Mendy of France.
Bute (28-0) will make his eighth title defense in the July 9 bout against Mendy (29-0-1), the IBF’s No. 1 ranked contender and mandatory challenger.
The fight is not included in Bute’s contract with Showtime, but it fulfills his wish to defend his belt in his home country, where he was named athlete of the year the last three years.
He last defended his title March 19 at the Bell Centre by stopping Brian Magee in the 10th round. Bute has fought out of Montreal since 2003.
