By Scott Gilfoid: Former IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (31-1, 24 KO’s) says he will definitely be facing IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (30-2, 22 KO’s) in the near future to try and gain revenge for his loss to him earlier this year, and to recapture his IBF 168 lb title.

Bute said tomsport.ro “It’s just speculation [that he won’t be fighting Froch again] from those in England. I want this and I assure you that this match will take place.”

Well, it’s not just speculation from Froch’s fans that Bute won’t be facing him again. Froch is saying himself that he doesn’t think that Bute will want to fight him again, so it starts with Froch himself. But Bute can shut Froch’s mouth by agreeing to fight him in March or April in Montreal, and then ruin Froch’s big plans.

Froch’s win over Bute has kind of gone to Froch’s head, because he’s got all these fights planned out ahead a time against Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward, despite the fact that Kessler and Ward already beat him. Just fighting one of those guys will likely be enough to ruin Froch’s dreams of sweeping the table by beating them all. It starts with Bute, though. He can be the gatekeeper for Froch to weed him out from the community of the top fighters like Ward and Kessler. All Bute needs to do is give Froch a beating and send him back home to Nottingham in defeat, and he can forget all about fights with Kessler and Ward.

Bute just has to fight smart in the rematch with Froch, and not make the same mistakes that he did last time he fought him. That was just poor fighting from Bute from the start after he retreated to the ropes and fought from that position during most of the bout. That led to Bute getting taken out in the 5th because he didn’t have a place to retreat to, and was chopped down.

Bute might be doing Froch a big favor by not fighting him, because then Froch can yap about how he thinks Bute is afraid to mix it up with him. Not fighting Froch would take a big fight away from him, and would put him in an uncomfortable position to where Froch may have to fight Ward a lot sooner than he might have wanted to.

I don’t see Kessler fighting Froch in the early part of next year, because Kessler other fights that he’s interested in. Froch will have to wait, and if Bute doesn’t fight him early in the year, then Froch will have to fight Ward or go and look for someone else. I just hope Eddie Hearn, Froch’s promoter, doesn’t drag down another light heavyweight like Yusaf Mack again, because it’s not sporting to have guys draining down in weight to fight them at 168 instead of at their own natural weight.