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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. Brandon Woodruff Brewers Jersey . Hamels threw seven sharp innings to earn his 100th career victory, Domonic Brown had a career-best five RBIs and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 12-1 on Saturday night to end a four-game losing streak. Trey Supak Jersey . Sami Salo scored two goals as the Canucks overcame a hat-trick from Edmonton Oiler rookie sensation Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to win 4-3 in NHL action Saturday. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/ . -- The Grand Rapids Griffins scored three goals in 33 seconds of the second period en route to defeating the Hamilton Bulldogs 6-1 in American Hockey League action on Friday. Cory Spangenberg Brewers Jersey . -- Center Max Unger and tight end Zach Miller are both probable for the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday against the New York Giants and Percy Harvins recovery continues to be slow. Alex Claudio Jersey .com) - Generally you want to be the guy who replaces the guy who replaced the legend.PHILADELPHIA -- If the Flyers continue to play as well as they did on Saturday, theyll have little trouble making the playoffs. Matt Read scored a pair of goals to lift the Flyers to a convincing 4-0 victory over the short-handed Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. "We were looking for a game like that a long time ago where we make sure that everybody follows the game plan and everybody plays 60 minutes," said Flyers captain Claude Giroux, who had a pair of assists. "It feels pretty good." Scott Hartnell and Vincent Lecavalier also scored for Philadelphia, which is in the middle of a tightly bunched pack of teams battling for a playoff spot. The Penguins, who are comfortably atop the Metropolitan Division, were shut out for the fourth time this season. Pittsburgh played without its third- and fourth-leading scorers, Chris Kunitz (lower body) and James Neal (concussion). The Flyers neutralized Pittsburgh stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. "They did a lot of what we expected," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. "We werent able to handle it, and in all aspects of the game we werent good." Besides Kunitz and Neal, the Penguins continued to be without top winger Pascal Dupuis (knee) and defencemen Kris Letang (stroke) and Paul Martin (hand). But Bylsma wouldnt use injuries as an excuse. "We have capable guys, guys who have done well for us before," he said. "We have to find ways to win within our roles regardless of whos in there. We werent able and ready to do that today." Philadelphia played like the first-place team in a matchup between two the leagues top rivals. "We want to finish higher and want home-ice advantage," Giroux said. "Its there for us to take but we have to keep playing like this." The Flyers came out with a high-energy attack from the opening faceoff in one of their best efforts of the season. Steve Mason made 25 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and 23rd of his career. "Everything felt very under control," Mason said. Leading 2-0 after one period, Philadelphia made it 4-0 with a pair of second-period goals. Lecavalier made it 3-0 when he scored on a breakaway after taking a stelllar pass from Luke Schenn.dddddddddddd Then, Read tallied his second of the game by finishing a beautifully executed 3-on-1 with Giroux and Sean Couturier with 17 seconds remaining in the period to give Philadelphia a 4-0 advantage. Couturier passed to Giroux in the slot and Giroux faked the shot before going back to Couturier, who whipped it across the ice to a wide-open Read. Read tapped home the goal past a sprawling Fleury, who was fooled by Girouxs fake. "Its hard to miss those when theyre right on your stick," Read said. "I benefited from those two making a great play." Mason kept Pittsburgh scoreless with a strong second period that included a point-blank stop of Jayson Megna six minutes into the period and a solid save on Simon Despres try from the left circle with 33 seconds left. The Flyers jumped out to a 2-0 lead with two nice goals in the first period. Hartnell opened the scoring with a power-play goal 3:50 into the game by one-timing Girouxs pass from the slot. The shot changed directions when hitting Brooks Orpiks stick and went off Fleurys left shoulder and in. A little more than four minutes later, Read scored a short-handed tally on a one-timer from close range after taking a deft pass from Couturier from behind the net and firing it over Fleurys left shoulder. The Flyers unveiled an 8-foot, 1,300-pound statue of Hall of Fame coach Fred Shero prior to the game on the former site of the Spectrum, which is adjacent to the Wells Fargo Center. Shero coached the Flyers for seven seasons and won a pair of Stanley Cups, in 1974 and 75. Sheros son, Ray, who is the Penguins general manager, was among those who attended the pregame ceremony. Notes: Kunitz, who has 59 points on the season, warmed up but didnt play. Kunitz crashed into the goal post in the third period of Tuesdays game against Washington. Bylsma was noncommittal when asked whether Kunitz would play Sunday. ... G Ray Emery returned to his role backing up Mason. Emery hadnt dressed since suffering a lower body injury Feb. 27 against San Jose. ... Crosby, who leads the NHL with 88 points, entered with 75 points in 30 career games against Philadelphia. ... The teams will play a rematch at 12:30 Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh. ' ' '