Lucian Bute wants Super Six winner – but will settle for loser if that’s all he can get

By Boxing News - 12/17/2011 - Comments

Image: Lucian Bute wants Super Six winner - but will settle for loser if that's all he can getBy Sean McDaniel: IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (29-0, 24 KO’s) wants first dibs on the winner of tonight’s Super Six mega fight between Carl Froch and Andre Ward. Bute, 31, wants the winner of this clash according to news from Dan Rafael.

If Bute can’t get the winner, then he may settle for the loser if nothing can be worked out with the tournament winner. The thing is Bute gains from fighting either of these guys because it gives boxing fans something to compare with. If Ward struggles to beat Froch, and then Bute comes in and makes easy work of Froch, then it will put a lot of pressure on the Super Six winner to fight him.

Both Ward and Froch have talked about fighting other opponents next rather than Bute. Ward wants to fight a rematch against Mikkel Kessler to prove that his win over him wasn’t a fluke, while Froch also wants to fight Kessler again but to avenge his defeat from last year. Froch also is interested in fighting Jean Pascal again, although that’s a lesser priority than the Kessler rematch. Bute may have to settle for facing the loser if he’s ignored.

However, the winner of the Super Six tourney really needs to turn their attention to Bute sooner or later if they want to be taken seriously as the best fighter in the division. Bute is too good to be ignored for long, especially if he handles the loser of the tournament. Bute might also end up fighting Bernard Hopkins next year. That’s a fight that Hopkins has been talking about a lot lately, and a win over Hopkins will surely increase Bute’s stature in the boxing world.

Bute would be problems for either Ward or Froch because of his quick hands, and his big power. He’s not as fast as Ward, but he hits a lot harder than him and would be able to land the cleaner shots. Bute also fights well on the inside and could end up hurting Ward if he tires to fight Bute in close rather than from the outside. Bute hits too hard to stand in close. Froch would have problems with Bute’s hit and retreat fighting style and this could end up being a mismatch.



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