Highlights
—Bute set the tone early in Round 1, proving to be a hard target by moving constantly while firing off hard left hands behind a stiff jab.
—In Round 3, Bute began landing wicked left uppercuts that Di Luisa hand no answer for.
—Bute dropped Di Luisa with a savage left hand in Round 4, and although Di Luisa beat the count, his corner threw in the towel shortly thereafter as Bute was teeing off on his opponent at will.
Coming off a 19-month layoff due in part to a back injury, Lucian Bute displayed little signs of ring rust as he plastered Andrea Di Luisa in a fourth-round technical knockout.
Di Luisa, fighting out of his native Italy for the first time, had no answer for Bute’s ceaseless movement and much more accurate punching (Bute landed at a 41 percent connect rate while Di Luisa found home but 17 percent of the time).
In Round 3, Bute nailed Di Luisa with a series of hard left uppercuts before dropping him in Round 4 with a hard left, eventually leading Di Luisa’s corner to throw in the towel shortly thereafter.
“I’m back!” Bute bellowed with his opponent on the canvas.
Lucian Bute nailed Di Luisa with a series of hard left uppercuts before dropping him in Round 4 with a hard left. (Suzanne Teresa / Premier Boxing Champions)