By Scott Gilfoid: Carl Froch (28-2, 20 KO’s) is really up against it in his next fight against IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (30-0, 24 KO’s) on May 26th. Froch thinks he can stop Bute, and that’s what he’s going to be trying to accomplish when he meets the Romanian in Nottingham, UK.

Froch said to Sky Sports Ringside “When I fight I’m there to entertain. I’m looking for the finish, looking for the knockout. I’m not ducking and holding. I’m looking at putting on a real good show. And I think against Lucian Bute, he boxes and moves, he can punch a bit. I think this fight against Bute has the makings of a real, real showdown; probably one of my best fights.”

Bute punches better than Froch and I’ll be surprised if Froch finishes this fight on his feet. In fact, I see Bute getting a stoppage win in the first six or seven rounds, mainly because of the way Froch fights. He’ll be plodding forward with his hands down by his sides and just asking to be planted on the canvas.

The thing with Bute is he doesn’t need to hit you in the head to KO you. He can go to the body and produce the same results much faster. He’s got to be the best body puncher in the super middleweight division by far. The great thing about Bute is he only recently became a big body puncher in 2009 around the same time he started throwing huge uppercuts.

oth weapons are new to his offense and he’s deadly with them. Froch is trouble in this fight and I think he’s going to be knocked out and left on the canvas for an extended period time after Bute knocks him down for the count.

The only thing Froch has going for him in this fight is hometown advantage. While some people scoff at the notion of this having any affect on the outcome of the fight let me remind you about the last time Froch fought at home in Nottingham against Andre Dirrell in 2009. Froch got dominated for first four rounds, then started fouling and never was called for any of his fouls, whereas Dirrell had a point taken off for holding. Dirrell went on to dominate the entire fight, yet he found himself on the short end of the stick losing a 12 round split decision.

Bute probably will have to KO Froch in order to win the fight because I can’t see Bute being given the decision over Froch even if he appears to win every round of the fight.