Lucian Bute suffered an injury to his left hand that has forced the postponement of his May 25th bout vs. Jean Pascal. Lucian will undergo surgery this week to remove bone fragments from his hand and recovery is anticipated to take a few weeks.
Motivated like never before, Lucian Bute was in the middle of the best training camp of his career.
“I am very disappointed by this injury. I have never been in better shape. My preparation was ahead of schedule until late last week. The fans that paid high ticket prices to see me in action against Pascal deserve to see both boxers at their best. Unfortunately I would be far from my best in my present state. For my own good, I have to take the advice of my doctor and undergo this operation. I feel very sad for the fans,” declared Lucian Bute.
“This situation is heartbreaking. Lucian’s preparation surpassed our objectives and now this injury will prevent him from offering his fans a great performance on May 25th. We are all very disappointed with this turn of events but the decision to go straight to surgery was the only one to be made as he could no longer use his left hand adequately in training. In the past, we made the error of not listening to the signs of distress coming from the body of an athlete. We do not want to make these same mistakes again,” states head trainer Stephan Larouche.
InterBox president Jean Bedard fully supports his boxer during this difficult time.
“This is very discouraging for the team. InterBox and Lucian Bute have been through a lot to offer this fight to the fans, but unfortunately injuries are a part of the sport. We made the decision to postpone the fight in the best interests of the fans and of our boxer, Lucian. We will do everything in our power so that Lucian rehabilitates from this injury as fast as possible so he can lace up the gloves against Jean Pascal.”
“Obviously, when we first heard the news a few hours ago, we were all in shock,” Yvon Michel said. “This is part of boxing and we are aware that we have to live and deal with these contingencies. Our perception is that this only a postponement. We ask Quebec to show understanding and patience. We wish a speedy recovery to Lucian.”
Jean Pascal was also surprised to learn the bad news.
“I was so excited when I met with the media last week,” Pascal commented from his Las Vegas training camp.
“I thought that I was in the best shape of my life and very optimistic about my fight with Bute. We now need to start over but I am a professional. I know that these things happen and I think that sooner or later, we will both be in the ring to settle our differences. And I would like to add that I would still fight on May 25; I am ready to face anyone.”
Interbox and Team Bute will be holding a media conference call shortly to disclose further details on the injury, the timetable for his return and the rescheduling of the fight, and the procedures for ticket refunds.
