By Eric Thomas: IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (29-0, 24 KO’s) is hoping to get a fight against WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward (25-0, 13 KO’s) next. That’s Bute’s main priority to get the fight with Ward, the Super Six tournament winner.

However, if Ward doesn’t take the fight, which is what it appears will be the case, Bute will look to fight former WBC champion Carl Froch (28-2, 20 KO’s) as a backup plan. The last option for Bute is 46-year-old Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KO’s), who is coming off a poor performance against Chad Dawson in which Hopkins fell down after falling onto Dawson’s back and injuring his left shoulder upon hitting the canvas.

Hopkins has been ordered by the World Boxing Council to fight an immediate rematch with Dawson, but it’s questionable whether Hopkins will want to take that route due to the danger involved in facing Dawson again. Their fight didn’t bring in a lot of pay per view buys and it’s not a big money bout that Hopkins is looking for. However, the chances of Hopkins getting picked by Bute are rather slim to say the least, as Bute’s management will likely give Ward a tempting offer to lure him to Montreal, Canada for a fight in early 2012.

But if Ward still decides not to take the fight, then Froch likely will if the money is good enough. His promoter Eddie Hearn has already been in contact with Bute’s management about putting together a two-fight deal in 2012. Right now Froch is a popular fighter due to his high visibility in the Super Six tournament.

In contrast, Hopkins had a fight against Jean Pascal last year and looked good in beating him, but then there was the disastrous Dawson debacle. Obviously, Froch and Ward are the main targets for Bute, while Hopkins is reportedly a distant third choice of last resort.

Ward wants to see Bute finally face an A level fighter before he’ll fight him. What Ward is talking about is the soft opposition that Bute has been feasting on for the past three years since he first captured his International Boxing Federation title. Bute has taken few risks and fought no one that was a serious threat to him during this time, and won a questionable decision over Librado Andrade in their first fight.