<div><div class="yn-story-content">
                <p>MONTREAL – Hometown favorite Lucian Bute stopped Brian Magee with an uppercut to the chin at 2:04 of the 10th round Saturday night to retain his IBF super-middleweight title.</p>
                <p>It was the third time that Bute (28-0) knocked down Magee (34-4-1), having dropped the 35-year-old Irishman in the sixth and seventh rounds of the scheduled 12-round bout between southpaws.</p>
                <p>The Montreal fighter defended the IBF belt he won in 2007 for the seventh time. Magee failed to go the distance for only the second time in his career.</p>
                <p>Both fighters tried to establish the jab in a fight that took place almost entirely in the center of the ring. The first five rounds were mostly even, but there was a sense that the taller, quicker Bute had another move up his sleeve.</p>
                <p>It came out in the sixth when a quick left to the midsection put Magee down. The same thing happened in the seventh and then it was matter of time before the knockout blow came.</p>
                <p>As Magee winced and fell in the 10th, referee Pete Podgorski of Chicago immediately signaled the end of the fight before 12,219 fans at the Bell Centre.</p>
                <p>In the co-feature, hard-hitting Pier Olivier Cote of Quebec City stopped Michael Lozada of Mexico with three knockdowns in the first round to win his light welterweight bout.</p>
                <p>A crushing right to the ear at 2:50 of the first gave Cote (15-0) an impressive victory over Lozada (37-8-1) and a second straight one-round win.</p>
                <p>"I thought he'd be more aggressive, but I saw he was backing up," said Cote, one of Canada's most promising young fighters along with middleweight David Lemieux. "I got him with a shot, he lost his legs and it was pretty much over from that point."</p>
                <p>The victory assured Cote of a spot on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight May 7 in Las Vegas against an opponent yet to be announced. However, Cote said his top priority is to fight for a North American title and would take that over a non-title bout, even in Las Vegas.</p>
                <p>The 26-year-old Cote was born in Cali, Colombia, but at 18 months old was adopted by Rejean Cote and Christiane Pleau of Charlesbourg, Quebec.</p>
                <p>He started boxing at 20 and was Canadian amateur champion within two years. He turned pro in 2008 and has impressed many with his devastating right-hand shots.</p>
                <p>Carl Moretti of promoter Top Rank this week called Cote a "special talent."</p>
                <p>In another co-feature, Armenian-born Vanes Martirosyan (29-0) dropped Bladimir Hernandez (18-5) of Mexico just 57 seconds into the second round of a scheduled eight-round light middleweight bout.</p>
                <p>Martirosyan was using the fight to shake off rust after a subpar win by decision in his last appearance in June against Joe Greene.</p>
                <p>Bute, a 31-year-old Romanian-born Canadian, was the heavy favorite over the 35-year-old European champion who was in his first world title fight.</p>
                <p>At ringside was former world champ Mikkel Kessler of Denmark, a likely future opponent for Bute once he recovers from the eye injury that forced him out of Showtime's Super Six tournament of top super-middleweights.</p>
                <p>Bute is expected to take on the Super Six winner early next year if he keeps winning.
</p><p>
On the undercard, Benoit Gaudet (24-2) of Canada scored a unanimous decision over Adrian Verdugo (14-4-1) of Mexico when the super featherweight bout went to the scorecards after six rounds due to an accidental head butt.
</p><p>
Viorel Simeon (13-0), a 29-year-old Romanian, made an entertaining debut with Montreal promoter InterBox. The rapid-fire puncher got up twice from the canvas in the second round to earn a split decision over Pedro Navarrete (25-11-3) of Mexico.
</p><p>
Newcomer Schiller Hyppolite (1-0) knocked down journeyman Patrick Tessier (4-13-2) with an overhand right in the second and got the four-round unanimous decision in a light heavyweight bout between local fighters.
</p><p>
Sebastien Gauthier (20-2) of Canada knocked out Jovanny Soto-Ramirez (29-13-1) of Mexico in the second round of a bantamweight bout.
</p><p>
Light heavyweight Colin McFadden of Canada was scheduled to make his pro debut but it was canceled when opponent Mike Bucannan didn't pass the pre-fight physical.</p>
            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class="rssreadon" rel="external" title="Lucian Bute stops Brian Magee to keep IBF title   (AP)" href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110320/ap_on_sp_bo_st/box_bute_magee" target="_blank">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110320/ap_on_sp_bo_st/box_bute_magee</a></p>