By Jake Donovan

James DeGale thought he would be able to force Lucian Bute out his comfort zone early on, but in the end it was the younger defending champion who was forced to readjust in order to retain his super middleweight title.

The 29-year old southpaw from England jumped out to an early lead and overcame a mid-fight cut to score a 12-round unanimous decision win Saturday evening at Centre Videotron in Quebec City, Canada. Scores of 117-111 (twice) and 116-112 landed in favor of DeGale, who made the first defense of his super middleweight title.

For Bute (32-3, 24KOs) the night represented what was believed to be one last crack at becoming a two-time champion. The 35-year old southpaw - who boasts dual citizenship in his native Romania and adopted homeland in Canada - reigned for nearly five years before being upended by Carl Froch via 5th round knockout in May '12.

The career-worst performance was the start of a stretch that has now seen Bute drop three of his last five starts.

"The past three years have been difficult for me," Bute admitted of the dark period in his career. "After losing to Carl Froch, it was difficult. I took off for almost two years but now I'm back."

The other loss between then and now came last January, dropping a 12-round decision to Jean Pascal in the most lucrative fight ever in Canada but a night that played out more like a cashout opportunity for Bute.

It was the complete opposite perspecitve at the end of 12-rounds with DeGale (22-1, 12KOs), going toe-to-toe for all 12 rounds in coming up short but earning a moral victory with his strong showing.

Looking back, Bute wonders what might've been had the start of his fight played similar to how he closed.

"Maybe in the first three rounds I think too much," Bute theorized. "I didn't put together my punches like I wanted. Once I did, I pushed James DeGale back."

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox