By Dan Ambrose: IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (29-0, 24 KO’s) has reportedly reserved a stadium in Montreal for August 11th and is hoping to fight either Mikkel Kessler or 47-year-old Bernard Hopkins over there. No word about his talked about two-fight deal with former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch.

It’s likely that Bute will have faced Froch before that date in early 2012, and then Bute can get to the more serious money fights against Hopkins and Kessler. Hopkins badly wants the fight with Bute, and has already done the legwork in making a Bute fight a popular one by beating Canada based fighter Jean Pascal earlier this year and taking his World Boxing Council light heavyweight title, which Hopkins still has in his possession.

Bute, 31, is all of a sudden overwhelmed with quality opposition for him to fight after eight years of facing B and C level fighters over and over again. It’s unfortunate that Bute’s age is so advanced now that he’s finally about to cut his teeth against A quality fighters, but better late than never. The Hopkins fight is probably the biggest of the three fighters mentioned for Bute, although likely not nearly the best in terms of what Hopkins has left in the tank at this point in his career.

Bute would like to fight Super Six tournament winner Andre Ward next, but Ward is disgusted with the easy ride that Bute has had in the past three years as the International Boxing Federation champion and he’d like to see Bute at least take on and beat one of the Super Six tournament fighters that he’s been toiling away against the last two years. We may see Bute against Froch soon, and if not, then definitely Kessler if he is up for taking that fight.

It would be a disappointment if Kessler rejects a fight against Bute on similar grounds that he hasn’t fought anyone. In that case it would be up to Froch and Hopkins to be the ones to give Bute his first taste of A level competition.