By Patrick McConnell: Fresh of his defeat to the 2004 Olympic light heavyweight gold medallist in Atlantic City, in December 2011, Carl, the Cobra, Froch was back in action. Not so surprising to his fans, but maybe to those boxing observers who follow the Mayweather’s and Pacquaio’s of this sport, Froch was in his 8th consecutive world title fight in the super-middleweight division aginst undefeated IBF Champion, Lucien Bute.
Needless to say those eight fights were against top 10 ranked fighters, namely: Jean Pascal, Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell, Mikkell Kessler, Arthur Abraham, Glen Johnson and Andre Ward. Under-rated and under-appreciated is how he has been described, not anymore!
The odds were stacked against this warrior from Nottingham, England. The bookmakers had him an underdog and more importantly the experts and average boxing experts had him getting decisively beaten, maybe even stopped by the undefeated yet untested Lucian Bute. Few gave the well-travelled and iron chinned battler any hope of winning. Yet the belief was always in evident in the interviews given by the lion-hearted Froch. His will to win and his desire to be the best in a division packed with immense talent was there for all to witness in the build-up but more importantly on fight night.
After two cagey rounds of scouting each other out it was ironically Bute who landed the best shot at the beginning of the third round. Immediately Froch pounced. Charging forward in what was to prove extremely effective, the Cobra stunned and had the undefeated Champion retreating and ultimately clinching until the round’s conclusion. Round four was started similar to the previous round, with Froch allowing Bute to hold the centre of the ring while doing nothing of note. It was another charge forward that brought the effective action from Froch. Bute, by this point in the fight, was unable to deal with the power of Froch. His legs were gone, he looked as though he was in survival mode and he was in terrible condition returning to his corner at the conclusion of the round. As we entered round 5 Bute was really only making up the numbers. Killer instinct and brute force ended this fight. While savagely getting crucified on the ropes, Bute was all but out on his feet when the referee gave him a count for using the ropes to hold him upright. This was despicable refereeing from an official, Earl Brown, who was officiating his 21st title fight.
Credit must be given where it is due. Carl Froch has propelled himself into the number two position in the super-middleweight division. But what does the future hold for this ruthlessly determined warrior from Nottingham?
A Kessler rematch is the most likely option, with the fight occurring in Nottingham following the initial fight taking place in Kessler’s hometown of Copenhagen. Other options include a domestic showdown with WBO Light-Heavyweight World Champion Nathan Cleverly, although this seems unlikely given Frank Warren’s protectionist policy for Nathan. A potential unification fight with WBO Super-Middleweight World Champion Robert Stieglitz is possible but would Stieglitz be willing to come to the UK after the mauling Bute suffered – I doubt it. What is for certain is that Bute will not take a rematch. Whether it is in Britain, Canada, United States or Kazakhstan Carl Froch will destroy Lucien Bute.
We wait for his outing with great anticipation. It is high time he gets the credit he is due, especially within American circles that seem to be fervently anti-anything-not-American. He has claimed he would have retired if he had lost – not on my watch Carl Froch, not on my watch.
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