By Scott Gilfoid: IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (30-0, 24 KO’s) will have Carl Froch (28-2, 20 KO’s) wary of getting hit by his paralyzing left uppercut in their May 26th fight at the Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, UK. However, Bute says he’s got a right hook that he’s going to drop on Froch if he puts too much focus on trying not to eat Bute’s left uppercuts.

Bute said this in their conference call “I’m a natural lefty, yes; he [Froch] will keep an eye on my left uppercut, but he should also pay attention to my right hook. For sure, I’ll surprise him.”

That’s going to be Froch’s downfall in this fight – Bute’s ability to surprise Froch when he gets sloppy and tries to land some of his big shots. Froch is going to make it too easy for Bute by leaving himself wide open for power shots when he goes to wind up on his punches like he always does.

Froch said this about Bute: “I don’t think he’s as good as [Andre] Ward, and I’m not sure he’s as good as [Mikkel] Kessler or Andre Dirrell or Jermain Taylor.”

Here’s my take on this. Bute isn’t as good as Ward or Dirrell, but he’s got a style that is unbeatable against a fighter like Froch. Dirrell and Ward, both defensive stars with blazing hand speed, have the tools to nullify the things that Bute does well. But Froch, with his slow hand speed, low guard and tendency to throw wide power shots, will be too easy for Bute to beat up in this fight. Froch will have problems with Bute’s body shots and will ultimately get knocked out by him once Bute connects with a big left hand to the midsection.

Froch says he’s confident about this fight, but I smell fear coming from him. He just got whipped by Ward, and that loss is going to be floating around in his head on May 26th. Froch won’t want to suffer another defeat, and it’s going to cause him to fight timidly. Once Bute has a timid lamb in front of him, he’ll pick him apart with crushing uppercuts and body shots.