World 168lb champion Lucian Bute was successful in the first defense of his IBF super-middleweight crown, stopping former three time world time William Joppy at 1:08 of the 10th round on Saturday night at a packed Bell Centre in Montreal.

Bute who was threading his left hand down the middle all night chased Joppy down late in the 9th after landing a crunching left and followed up with three hooks to the body, bringing the fighter down to his knees in the centre of the ring as the round ended.

Foregoing the stool, Joppy slumped over the top rope between rounds as his corner tried to revive him. It didn’t work as Bute who towered over his much shorter opponent continued the assault in the 10th, bringing him down twice more before referee Marlon Wright stepped in and stopped the bout.

Bute moves to 22-0 with his 18th knockout while Joppy falls to 39-5-1 with the loss, his second stoppage defeat in 45 fights.

"I feel I controlled every round," said Bute afterward. "It was a great experience against a very experienced opponent. I followed my game plan and it went the way I wanted."

Plans are for Bute to fight an optional defense in May, then take on the winner of Librado Andrade-Robert Stieglitz in his mandatory defense.