By Scott Gilfoid: I really hate to say it but Carl Froch (28-2, 20 KO’s) has very little chance of finishing his May 26th match against IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (30-0, 24 KO’s) on his feet.

I know all the blather that Froch has been talking about how his home crowd will help him or this or that, but he’s kidding himself. Froch is basically kidding himself because he’s not going to be able to take Bute’s crushing left uppercuts to the head of left hands to the body. He’s too wide open for those shots because of his low guard, poor defense and brawling style of fighting.

I’m not even talking about Bute’s sensational right hook, which is lethal all to itself. Froch won’t be able to handle Bute’s left hands. Those are going to be Froch’s downfall in this fight. He takes too many head shots, and Bute is going to be like a big kid in a candy store on May 26th with opportunities to peg Froch to the head of body.

It seems to bother Froch that Bute is showing courage by coming over to Nottingham to fight Froch in his hometown in the UK. But can you blame Bute? He knows what he sees in Froch – a wide open fighter just perfect for his left hands to find a home. Why should Bute be afraid to come to Nottingham to fight Froch? I can sort of understand why he maybe should be afraid to fight Froch over there given the terrible decision that went against the talented Andre Dirrell when he made the mistake of fighting Froch in Nottingham. But it’s different with Bute, because he’s so powerful and such a marvelous body puncher that he’s going to take the judges out of the fight by knocking Froch out.

Do I see Froch getting knocked cold from one of Bute’s left uppercuts? No. I think he’ll get knocked senseless, but not out cold. But I think it’s more likely that Bute takes Froch out cleanly with a peach of a body shot that gets Froch out of there without the mess that a head shot would possibly do to him. There won’t be broken facial bones with a body shot, and Froch won’t have deal with the redness and swelling that he had in his loss from American talent Andre Ward last December. The ending against Bute will be merciful because of how quick it’ll be. Sure, it’s going to hurt like the dickens but the pain will go away as quickly as it came, and Froch won’t be left with any big lasting bruises aside from perhaps his feelings.