Lucian Bute vs Carl Froch Preview
By: Tony Stewart
On May 26, 2012 at the Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, England Lucian Bute(30-0, 24 KOs) will put his championship and undefeated record on the line when he defends his IBF Super Middleweight Title against Carl Froch(28-2, 20 KOs).
Lucian Bute, current holder of the IBF quotient of the super middleweight picture and ranked no. 1 by ring magazine will be traveling abroad for the first time in his 9 year professional career to face an opponent on his turf giving up home town advantage. The Romanian native has had to wait for citizenship of Quebec, Canada, in order to defend his title outside of his adopted home and he will do it first against ring magazine ranked no. 2 and former Super Six finalist Carl “Cobra” Froch.
Of all of Lucian’s wins, perhaps his most memorable bout to date was a near-miss win against Librado Andrade. With seconds left in the final round of their fight, Librado who was down on all score cards rocked Lucian with a combination of punches sending him crashing to the canvass. The referee gave a standing 8-count which took close to 20 seconds, due to ensuing chaos in the ring (caused by the ref) enabling Bute to make it to the bell thus retaining his belt. It would be seen as a clear home town reffing job that would shroud Bute’s status as a legitimate champion until their anticipated rematch where he knocked Andrade out in the 4th round, vindicating his spurious victory and giving Librado his first loss by KO.
Since that bout Bute has enjoyed a string of successive title defenses against a variety of opponents but none offering the kind of dangerous opposition he will be facing in the hard KO punching Carl Froch. Froch, who recently completed a 2-and-a-half-year journey against 5 of the world’s best 168-pound fighters during the Super Six Middleweight Tournament made it all the way to the finals. Despite a decidedly lopsided loss to the Super Super Middleweight Champion and tournament winner Andre Ward, Froch showed he possesses the heart, grit and determination of a true warrior and world champion.
Both men have something to prove in this fight. Bute, that he isn’t a manufactured paper champ who has enjoyed home town advantage. And for Carl Froch, coming out of the tournament he intends to make a statement to the world that he isn’t second best and in regaining a title he will undoubtedly campaign for a rematch against Andre Ward.
Even though Bute is the champ in this fight, he is seen as the underdog with possibly slightly more to prove. Both men have excellent boxing skills with a veritable array of weapons at their disposal. Bute who was largely seen as a slick boxer with great footwork and hand speed has shown that he does have KO power against stronger fighters but has also shown susceptibility to power punchers. Carl Froch, who is a very strong-willed, iron-chinned boxer-puncher who has shown versatility against elite opposition, has shown he can be out hustled and out boxed by faster, slicker fighters.
Ultimately this will come down to heart and who wants it more I think in the end. You can expect both men to put on a stellar performance from start to finish and provide the fans what they expect, a real championship throw down between two of the best today. I am a huge fan of both men and while I would not be disappointed at all to see Froch’s hands raised in victory, I think the slicker punching and movement will win the day. Lucian Bute by unanimous decision.
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