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MONTREAL -- If his chin can get through the first few rounds, Lucian Bute has a chance to re-establish his reputation as world class boxer. If he doesnt blow himself out early trying to test that chin, Jean Pascal stands to claim one of the biggest wins of his career. Thats how the scene is set for what promoters are calling the biggest match ever between two Canadian fighters. Bute (31-1) will face Pascal (28-2-1) in the main event Saturday night before more than 20,000 Bell Centre spectators, with a much larger audience watching on the U.S. specialty channel HBO. If the few hundred who turned up for Fridays weigh-in are an indication, those who chant Butes name will drown out fans of the flashy, outspoken Pascal, but all that really counts is what happens in the ring. The 12-round fight is officially for the minor NABF light heavyweight title and a meaningless trinket called the WBC Diamond belt, but much more is at stake for the two former world champions from Montreal whose careers have been mostly idling the last two years. "I feel very good, very confident," Bute, a natural super-middleweight, said after easily making weight at 173.6 points. "My future is in play. "Its the most important fight of my career so far." Pascal was a little over on his first attempt, then took off his tuque and came in right on the 175-pound limit. He put tape over his mouth to avoid saying anything to Bute or the media. The 33-year-old Bute has much to prove. The Romanian-born fighter who moved to Montreal to turn pro in 2003 was often criticized for always fighting in his adopted home and avoiding tough opponents while he held the IBF super-middleweight (168-pound) title from 2007 to 2012. And when he finally left Montreal to defend for the 10th time against power-punching Carl Froch in England, he was destroyed in five rounds, wobbling around with his face a bloody mess as the referee stopped the bout. He was hardly convincing in a close 12-round decision win over Denis Grachev in his only bout since then in November, 2012, although he came away with the NABF title. The question now is whether hell hold up if Pascal connects with an early power punch. "Youll see Saturday night if I have a chin or not, but Im very confident," he said. "In England with Carl Froch, I got a hit a lot and I never went down. I never took a knee and I dont plan to this time either." The Bute-Pascal showdown was originally scheduled for May 25, but was postponed when Bute injured a hand. After surgery to remove bone chips, he feels his hands are in their best shape in years. The 31-year-old Pascal lost a close decision to Froch in England in 2008. Shortly after, he moved up one weight class and beat another Romania native based in Montreal, Adrian Diaconu, for the WBC light heavyweight title. He defended it four times, but hit a wall in a pair of bouts with the wily Bernard Hopkins, who was in his mid-forties. Hopkins slipped and dodged punches and let Pascal wear himself trying to land haymakers and then took over in the late rounds. Their first meeting in 2010 was a draw, and Hopkins got the win and the title by unanimous decision a year later. Pascal has only fought twice since then, both against B-level opponents. He has since sought outside help in the form of boyhood idol Roy Jones Jr. to take his game to another level. They held camp at altitude at the Big Bear resort in California. Bute usually holds training camps in Florida, but stayed in Montreal for this one. While Bute and Pascal waited for their showdown, another Montreal fighter, Adonis Stevenson, jumped to the front of the queue by taking the WBC belt. Stevensons Detroit-based trainer Sugar Hill will be an interested spectator .The winner will become mandatory challenger for the title, although that fight likely wont happen until early 2015. He called the fight a toss-up, and said it should become clear in the first round who will win. "The only question I have is about Bute in a big fight after the Carl Froch fight," said Hill, the nephew of legendary trainer Emanuel Steward. "How he handles that will decide the outcome of the fight and that will be decided in the first round. "I have it in Butes favour if the fight goes longer." The southpaw Bute is the more technically sound of the two and his left uppercut can be deadly. Pascal answers with a brawling style, with plenty of speed and athleticism. Butes trainer Stephan Larouche likes how his fighter has not shown any signs of nervousness or doubt leading into the bout. Of course, he feels Bute will win. "Hes got better abilities and he can adjust the distance way better than Jean Pascal," said Larouche. If the fight goes the distance there will almost certainly be calls for a rematch, although Butes promoter Jean Bedard said he may prefer a rematch with Froch first if he wins. A loss would be crushing for Pascals pride, but he would likely remain in demand because his bouts are always entertaining. Peter Nelson of HBO said airing it on their first boxing show of the year was an easy decision. "These are two elite fighters with a lot at stake, with careers on the line in a certain respect," he said. "Its a great fight in terms of the environment here and the division theyre in. "Weve seen Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev emerge in the same division, so its a hot division with a lot of depth. We think the winner of this fight can emerge in a serious way to be a real player in our long term plans for the network." The co-feature has a 10-round heavyweight clash between Cuban Mike Perez (20-0) and Carlos Takam (28-1) of France. Perez weighed 231.2 while Takam was 256.2. Notes: Promoter Yvon Michel said Stevenson plans to fight three times in 2014. He gave few details other than that the first one will not be against fellow knockout artist Kovalev.. . . Larouche said Butes move to light heavy is not necessarily permanent and he can still make weight at super-middleweight. Josh McRoberts Jersey . Torres calmly stroked a 51st-minute spot kick down the middle with goalkeeper Romel Quinonez diving right to convert a penalty earned by Javi Martinez. Spain controlled play at the Sanchez Pizjuan but found it hard to convert against a well-organized Bolivian team before Iniesta charged forward to curl around Quinonez in the 84th to seal victory. Jason Kidd Jersey . Groves signed with Cleveland as an unrestricted free agent last year after a season with Arizona. He was in the linebacker rotation and had a sack in the season opener against Miami. http://www.officialmavericksfanstore.com/kids-steve-nash-mavericks-jersey/ . Her return engagement begins tonight as TSN presents Day 1 coverage of the 2015 event from Melbourne. Watch Eugenie Bouchards opening round match at the Australian Open live tonight on TSN5 at 3am et/Midnight pt. Luka Doncic Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline isnt that far away and teams will be making decisions on whether to buy, sell and decide which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Dallas Mavericks Jersey .J. - The New Jersey Devils know the odds are against them as they chase a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. OKLAHOMA CITY -- Mike White felt his team could have been more competitive against No. 7 Oklahoma State. Sure, the Louisiana Tech coach believes Oklahoma State is a "legitimate Final Four contender," but he likes his team as well. While the Bulldogs (8-3) were effective at slowing down All-America guard Marcus Smart, there was little they could do down the stretch to avoid a 70-55 loss to the high-powered Cowboys (9-1). LeBryan Nash scored 22 points as Oklahoma State overcame a sluggish start and pulled away after Louisiana Tech got within 49-42 with 8:44 remaining. "We missed the few open looks that we had and just couldnt cut into a lead, couldnt get it going offensively against a terrific team," White said. "I was proud of the way we defended and rebounded. We completed." With Louisiana Tech determined to slow down Smart, Nash grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and scored 15 of Oklahoma States 31 points in the first half. Nash made six of his first 11 shots to pick up the slack for Smart, who finished with 13 points. Smart was only 1-of-4 shooting in the first half, and he said he made a conscious effort to be more of an all-around player who created shots for his teammates. He added five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Markel Brown had 13 points and Kamari Murphy added 10 for the Cowboys. "Im just trying to focus on making sure that I dont force a lot of things because I do have a talented group of guys around me that I really dont need to force things," Smart said. "They can create also, so I just kind of let them get in the flow of their game." Chris Anderson scored 14 points and Alex Hamilton added 12 points for Louisiana Tech, which held Oklahoma State scoreless over the first 4 minutes of the game. But the Bulldogs couldnt maintain the energy down the stretch. The Cowboys used their athleticism annd multiple scoring options to turn a close game into a lopsided victory in the All-College Classic.dddddddddddd "I thought wed be more competitive to be honest, but I just think that we struggled so much from an offensive standpoint," White said. "(We) had a lot of droughts offensively, couldnt really get into a rhythm." Louisiana Tech trailed by only seven points with less than 9 minutes remaining, but Smart helped build Oklahoma States lead back to double digits. He put back a missed shot, then found Murphy for a dunk to put the Cowboys ahead 55-42 with 6:25 remaining. Oklahoma State hadnt played since a 79-52 rout of South Carolina on Dec. 6. The Cowboys struggled early to regain their rhythm and didnt score their first point until Brown hit a free throw with 15:41 remaining in the first half. Oklahoma State missed all five of its 3-point attempts and made only 7 of 13 free throws in the first half, allowing Louisiana Tech to hang around into the second half. "(We) didnt get off to a good start," Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. "We can contribute it to taking eight days off, finals week, different things, but we just didnt make good decisions offensively early in the game." Louisiana Tech, on the other hand, looked fresh playing its second game in four days and facing its highest ranked opponent since the two teams met in 1991. The Bulldogs relied on their defence to take a 3-0 lead in the opening minutes and hold the Cowboys to just 38.7 per cent shooting in the first half. But Nash and Smart created some fast-break opportunities, and Oklahoma State used a 10-2 run midway through the first half to take a lead it never relinquished. The Cowboys expanded their lead to 22 points and pulled away for their second consecutive win following their only loss of the season, a 73-68 defeat to No. 16 Memphis. 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