Bute: I’ll fight Froch in March or the summer and I’m certain I can beat him

By Boxing News - 11/19/2012 - Comments

Image: Bute: I'll fight Froch in March or the summer and I'm certain I can beat himBy Scott Gilfoid: Lucian Bute (31-1, 24 KO’s) says he watched IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch’s 3rd round knockout victory over American Yusaf Mack last Saturday night and he came away impressed with Froch’s performance but he did see flaws there that he can exploit in their rematch.

As far as the rematch goes, Bute says it’ll happen but he doesn’t have a definite day. That may not be good enough for Froch and his promoter Eddie Hearn, who is saying that if the fight doesn’t happen in March then it likely never will. It’s unclear what’s so golden about the fight having to take place in March, but if that’s the way Hearn wants it then it’ll be his and Froch’s loss because Bute has plenty of other guys to fight besides just Froch.

Bute doesn’t live and die by the Froch rematch because he’s a huge star in Montreal and routinely fights in front tremendous crowds that dwarf Froch’s crowds in Nottingham, England.

Bute said this as quoted by cotidianul.ro “He [Froch] makes mistakes too, but if you stay and trade with him he is hard to beat. The Rematch is a certainty. It will be either in March or the summer of next year. Depends on the negotiations, depends on the IBF and the mandatory [Adonis Stevenson]…Of one thing I’m certain, I can beat him, using my strengths, speed, technique and intelligence.”

I agree. Bute can beat Froch in a rematch. Bute badly struggled against Librado Andrade in 2008, but in their rematch Bute was a completely different fighter and ended up knocking him out. I see the same thing happening against Froch. Bute wasn’t at his best in Nottingham, but in their rematch in Montreal, Bute will dominate and likely stop Froch.

Hearn and Froch may have to wait until the summer for the rematch with Bute, however. I’d suggest that Froch get his mandatory defense against Adonis Stevenson out of the way so he can be free of that to face Bute in the summer. I mean, the fight will happen even if Froch loses to Stevenson, but it’s better that Froch get that fight out of the way so that the International Boxing Federation doesn’t end up stripping Froch of his title for failing to fight Stevenson after having already been ordered to do so.



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