Froch scores brutal KO of Bute to become a three-time world champion
By: Nick Bellafatto
With Lucian “Le Tombeur” Bute (30-1, 24 KO’s) entering the ring as the visiting fighter at 10-0 with 8 knockouts in title fights, making nearly all of those defenses in the fan friendly confines of his adopted home of Montreal, Quebec, Canada against seemingly less than stellar opposition, many would begin to question the very legitimacy of the Romanian born fighter. To boot, a suspect chin would also be at issue, leaving skeptics wondering whether or not Bute’ beard would hold up against a determined hard punching prizefighter the likes of Carl “The Cobra” Froch (29-2, 21 KO’s).
And before a capacity crowd of 8,600 enthralled fans at the Capital FM Arena in Carl’ hometown of Nottingham, England this past Saturday night, the chin part of the equation would certainly be answered. For not only would “The Cobra” eventually turn up the heat to brutally knock out the formerly undefeated Bute at the 1:05 mark of round 5 with a huge right hand, but the remaining topic regarding Lucian Bute genuinely belonging at the very top of his division had also been answered to an extent as well, at least in so far as it pertains to the newly crowned IBF super middleweight titlist and now three-time world champion Carl Froch.
Primarily looking to counterpunch while somewhat tentative in spots, overall Bute didn’t let his hands go nearly enough to fend off the hard charging challenger, in effect becoming quite the victim as early as round 3. And in giving credit where it is due, the English fighter who has fought nothing but top notch competition as of late, would live up to his words, vowing to return better than ever after his one sided title surrendering loss to Andre Ward last December.
In fact, by all outward appearances Carl Froch had perhaps never looked better up to this point in his career. Not only would he put his punches together with surprising speed in facing the favored Lucian Bute, but visibly settling in after some early apprehension, he would totally overwhelm “Le Tombeur” once he began to connect more solidly. “I knew I could hurt him,” stated Froch. “I’m a bit of an animal when I see my opponent hurt.”
And if Lucian is indeed able to find someway to rebound from such a devastating knockout loss, there being a contractual rematch clause specifying a return bout in Canada, it will have to be by way of avoiding getting hit on his chin which doesn’t seem to stand a chance on its own. This is especially apparent when confronted with a determined refuse to lose type fighter the likes of Carl Froch, who would in risky fashion take a few shots to get in range to land his own fight altering blows.
The first round visibly consisted on nervous energy on the part of both the defending champion as well as the challenger. However, with “The Cobra” swinging and missing crudely while stumbling forward a bit, he would run into an assortment of left and right hand counters from the more relaxed looking champion. And although Froch was able to absorb those initial shots, nevertheless Lucian would get the best of him to perhaps gain an early edge on the scorecards while demonstrating to the challenger that he packs a bit of a punch. “I caught him with a good shot in round one,” noted the victor, “but I also got caught with a careless shot.”
With Lucian looking to bide his time and counter as the more fluid fighter early on, he would land the left hand to start off the second round as well. Undeterred, Froch, assuredly more self confident by this time, would begin to let loose a flicking jab over Lucian’ low right guard, closing the distance and making way for a solid right hand counter which caught the attention of his opponent on more than one occasion.
It was at this particular juncture that these certain blows delivered by Froch were in fact determined to be the most solidly landed by either fighter, blows which would seemingly tilt that same second frame in the English fighters favor, who also appeared the slightly busier of the two.
Round 3 started off with Froch continuing to paw with his jab, only to see Bute control the action in the first minute with the same right hook straight left hand combination he went through the motions of throwing during his pre-fight warm up in the dressing room. However, one combination by Bute in particular had suddenly woke “The Cobra” from his slumber, who would then jump in with zipping rights and lefts to drive “Le Tombeur” back to the ropes where he would further pummel his adversary.
Sensing the champion was vulnerable, Carl would seize the moment to launch an all out assault that would see the challenger land 36 power shots as compared to that of 7 power connects tallied by his Romanian counterpart. With Lucian moving his head constantly to avoid the can of you know what now opened up by a seek and destroy minded Froch, this would be key to Lucian making it out of a round all but dominated by the hometown fighter.
If Carl during this onslaught which pinned his opponent against the ropes had dropped some body shots to stabilize a reeling Bute then and there, he could have perhaps brought things to a conclusive ending during this the third stanza. Simply stated, going downstairs at this point in time would have in all likelihood opened up his adversary for the same fight ending right hand bombs which would finish matters in the fifth.
With that said, an out on his feet Bute would survive to find his stool, providing yet another opportunity to make a comeback after the break. In fact, not putting Lucian away in this instance is perhaps one of the mistakes alluded to by Froch post fight.
Bute would open up the fourth frame looking fully recovered while visibly making an effort to stay off the ropes. Without much in the way of landing punches early on by either, Froch would jump in with a flurry of blows close to the one minute mark, driving Bute back to the ropes, only to have the defending champion turn him back. Bringing the fight back to the center of the ring, Lucian was moving well.
However, striking like “The Cobra” that he is, Froch would jump in once again to land another solid right hand towards the close of the round. Looking just as unsteady as in the previous round, the defending champion would be the recipient of a plethora of blows that would see him once again wobble back to his corner.
Capitalizing on his momentum from round 4, round 5 would see the hometown fighter pick up where he left off to tag “Le Tombeur” with a big swinging right and then a left hook. Backing Bute to the ropes yet again, Froch would pummel the Romanian with head snapping rights and lefts, driving the crowd in a frenzy while rendering his adversary totally defenseless.
It was at this point that referee Earl Brown could have easily put an end to the bout, but would rather usher in some confusion by initially waving his hand to signal the fight was over, to then immediately begin to administer an eight-count.
Totally unaware of his surroundings due to deeply focusing on Bute who was already having an out of body experience, referee Brown would fail to notice either Froch promoter Eddie Hearn, who had entered the ring to initiate a victory celebration, nor Bute’ own cornerman who made his way through the ropes by the counts end to indicate surrender on the part of his charge. Brown had finally made the right call by this time and waved it off.
In the end, Froch would leave Bute in eerily similar condition to that of the way he appeared in the final round of his first meeting with Librado Andrade in 2008. In that bout which first exposed the newly minted Canadian Citizen as having less than a solid set of whiskers, Andrade for all intensive purposes had scored a twelfth round knockout, only to see referee Marlon Wright issue a long count which would allow Lucian to controversially keep his title and undefeated record intact, both of which Bute would have to part with after his destruction at the hands of the rugged Brit this weekend.
After a less than smooth beginning, once able to find a rhythm and get his bearings, Carl Froch would turn in nothing less than a career defining performance. “I feel very, very satisfied of a fantastic performance,” Froch stated in reference to dismantling the now former undefeated champion. “I made a few mistakes, but I have to give Lucian Bute credit. I fought from round one, giving everything. The mental focus was second to none.”
And knowing that there is a rematch clause in the contract to fight Bute back in Canada, “The Cobra” would mention with a word of caution, “if I just took the severe beating he did, in all honesty if it were me, I would seriously reconsider not taking the rematch.” But Bute in defeat, similarly a class act as was Carl in forfeiting his former WBC title belt to Andre Ward, will no doubt regroup and attempt to rebound from this catastrophic loss.
However, unless Lucian Bute, rated as high as number one in the division can regain his IBF title perhaps just as spectacularly as he was defeated at the hands of a reinvigorated Carl “The Cobra” Froch, a much anticipated bout with Andre Ward may never come to fruition. This rather paves the way for the Brit to mix it up with the Ring Magazine champion once more, pending the outcome of the highly anticipated match up between Ward and Chad Dawson in September, to reclaim that which was once his. In other words, “The Cobra” is back in business.
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