By William Mackay: There’s no doubt that former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (28-2, 20 KO’s) has the power to take IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute’s belt off him by stopping him on May 26th at the Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, UK.

You can’t doubt Froch’s power, despite him having a long three year dry spell in between knockouts. He hits hard and if he’s got an opponent with a weak chin like Bute, Froch can win. But he’s going to have to use his timing to catch Bute, because he’s not going to have the hand speed or the quick feet to land his shots. Bute is too quick in backing up when his opponents try and land anything big.

But he can be hit if you time him and if you’re willing to get hit a lot while trying to land. Librado Andrade did this in their first fight in October 2008 when he timed Bute and caught him with a big right hand that hurt him and then put him on the deck. Andrade lost that fight, but he showed that Bute can be hurt by a slower fighter with medium power. I rate Froch above Andrade in terms of power and skills. He’s just a better overall fighter than him.

However, Bute has also improved a lot since the first Andrade fight, as we’ve seen in his KO victories over Edidon Miranda, Jesse Brinkley, Brigan Magee and Jean Paul Mendy. Bute is now knocking out almost everyone he faces. He didn’t stop his last opponent Glen Johnson, but that seemed like Bute wasn’t really interested in trying to stop Johnson, who is a good friend. I wouldn’t say Bute carried Johnson, but I also wouldn’t say he tried very hard to get the stoppage. He may have failed even if he went all out, because Johnson is difficult to knockout now and he’s dangerous because of his power. Bute would have put himself in jeopardy had he went for the KO.

Froch has got to look to set some traps and work Bute in a position to where he can connect with some of his big right hands and left hooks to get him hurt. Bute definitely is vulnerable but Froch is going to have to push the pace and load up with his shots. Bute hasn’t faced anyone like Froch during his career, so it’s going to be a new experience for him.