By Jake Donovan

James DeGale made the first successful defense of his super middleweight title, outpointing fellow southpaw Lucian Bute over 12 furiously paced rounds Saturday evening at Centre Videotron in Quebec City, Canada.

Scores were 117-111 (twice) and 116-112 for the visiting champion, fighting in his second straight bout outside of the United Kingdom. 

The early strategy for DeGale appeared to be to jump out to a commanding lead while forcing Bute to let his hands go and perhaps tire out the 35-year old former super middleweight champ. It didn't quite play out that way, but allowed the Brit to pile up points on the scorecards.

Bute refused to wilt, but later acknowledged that fighting to keep up rather than to take the lead early one ultimately proved to be his downfall. 

"Maybe in the first three rounds I think too much," Bute told Showtime's Jim Grey in his improving English after the fight. "I didn't put together my punches like I wanted. Once I did, I pushed James DeGale back." 

That momentum shift came in round four, when Bute was able to force the action and put DeGale on his heels for the first time in the fight. 

The defending champion was forced to deal with additional adversity in round five, when an accidental headbutt produced a cut over his eye. His cutman did a terrific job in stopping the flow of blood, although the treatment caused issues in DeGale's mid-rounds performance.

"The blood and the Vaseline were getting in my eye," DeGale admitted of his mid-fight slowdown. "It was tough to see but I worked through it." 

Bute threatened to punch his way back into what was ultimately a fantastic title fight, but DeGale regianed control at the right time. The crowd was naturally biased towards the longtime favorite son of Quebec, but there would be no hometown favoritism in terms of the judges snatching DeGale's title from his grasp. 

The work put in heading into the championship rounds was enough to convince the challenger that a dramatic finish was required in order for the belt to change hands. Both fighters dug deep to deliver whatever they had left, prompting the sizeable crowd to rise to its feet. 

Non-stop action in the 12th and final round made for a Round of the Year contender, with Bute going all in and DeGale fighting strong enough to keep his challenger honest yet smart enough to avoid getting clipped with anything foolish. 

Their collective efforts were met with a well-deserved round of applause, although the crowd reaction turned for the worse once the final scorecards were announced. It wasn't the verdict they wanted to hear, but in reality was very fair scoring in favor of the winner and still champion who picks up his second straight road win. 

If DeGale gets his way, a third straight fight away from home will be next on the list.

"Vegas - April next year, let's do it," DeGale (22-1, 14KOs) insisted when posed with the possiiblity of facing Badou Jack in a super middleweight title unification bout. "Let's unify the title." 

Such a fight would be the perfect follow-up to a career-best year in 2015 for DeGale. Six months prior came his title-winning effort over Andre Dirrell, scoring a pair of knockdowns to edge it on the cards in their vacant title fight in Boston, Mass. 

While DeGale looks to a bright future, Bute is grateful to remain relevant in the present. Despite suffering his third career loss in the span of five fights, his stock skyrockets. For the first time since his brutal knockout defeat at the hands of Carl Froch, Bute showed signs of old form in a brave performance. 

"The past three years have been difficult for me," Bute (32-3, 24KOs) admitted afterward. "After losing to Carl Froch, it was difficult. I took off for almost two years but now I'm back." 

His most recent conqueror didn't disagree. 

"He's a world class fighter," DeGale noted of the former champ. "I'm young, I'm fresh and I'm ready for the best. But believe me, (Bute) will be back." 

As for DeGale, he remains at the forefront and with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. 

"I still have to work on things in the gym, but I'm peaking," DeGale insists. I'm getting better. The next 3-4 years I will be at my best."

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox