By Scott Gilfoid: If there were was ever a fighter that was made to order for IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (30-0, 24 KO’s), it’s former WBC super middleweight champ Carl Froch (28-2, 20 KO’s).

Froch is the perfect creation for Bute’s style of fighting with his low guard, slow hand speed, plodding footwork and his tendency to load up on his shots.

Bute loves to fight these kinds of fighters, and does remarkably well against them. Indeed, he’s unbeaten when facing Froch-like opposition, and I don’t expect that to change in the least when the two fighters get it on next month on May 26th at the Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, UK.

This is a hometown fight for Froch, but the judges can’t possibly screw this one up like they did Froch’s fight against Andre Dirrell by giving Froch a controversial victory, because Bute is likely going to take it out of the judges’ hands by blasting Froch with a peach of an uppercut to KO him at some point in the fight.

I was thinking the KO would happen in the first six rounds, but Froch could maybe make it a round or two longer than that if his chin holds up. But he’s not super human, so at some point in the fight I see Froch tasting the canvas for the full 10 round.

For Froch to keep from getting KO’d by Bute, he would have to dramatically alter his fighting style by fighting with a high guard, and leaning backwards so that Bute’s uppercuts can’t hit their mark. Froch will still be vulnerable to body shots, but he can avoid them as long as he stays on the outside all night long using his jab. I wouldn’t advise for Froch to throw any right hands, because Bute will come in with either an uppercut or a body shot to KO Froch if he tries those shots. He’s too slow to get away with throwing power shots. He’s got to play it safe and just use his jab. This obviously won’t be nearly enough for him to win the fight, because it takes more than jabbing for a fighter to get a win. However, Froch can at least survive to the final bell while losing a lopsided 12 round decision. That to me is a victory in itself for Froch, because he’ll be one of the rare fighters that has made it the full 12 against Bute.

There are a handful of fighters that can beat Bute, such as Andre Dirrell, Anthony Dirrell and Andre Ward. However, you have to possess fast hands in order to do so and have excellent power. Froch is missing the crucial ingredients in the talent department for him to beat Bute.