QUEBEC: Eleider Alvarez stopped former champion Lucian Bute with a pair of right-hand shots in the fifth round to win a light heavyweight elimination bout between the two Montreal-based boxers on Friday.

Alvarez (22-0) stunned Bute (32-4-1) with a right and then sent him to the floor with another to close out what had been an even battle through four rounds. Referee Marlon B. Wright stopped the fight at 2:22 of the fifth round.

“I’ve been practising that move for a long time,” Alvarez said after the bout.

The Colombian-born Alvarez became the mandatory challenger for the WBC title held by another Montreal fighter, Adonis Stevenson.

Bute held the IBF super-middleweight title from 2007 to 2012, when he was crushed in England by Carl Froch. The Romanian-born Canadian was in only his sixth bout since that loss.

“That’s boxing,” Bute said. “I thought I fought well but he surprised me with a good punch. Hats off to him, he deserved the win.”

It remains to be seen if it was the last fight for 36-year-old Bute. He’s 2-4-1 in his last seven bouts.

Alvarez also retained the obscure WBC Silver title.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2017