By Scott Gilfoid: According to fightnews.ca, #1 IBF Adonis Stevenson (19-1, 16 KO’s) will likely be facing #4 IBF Thomas Oosthuizen (21-0-1, 13 KO’s) in early 2013 if the current IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch chooses not to face Stevenson for his mandatory defense.

Stevenson beat Don George to become Froch’s mandatory challenger and Froch now has to fight Stevenson BEFORE he fights Lucian. Judging by what Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn has been saying about wanting the Bute fight first, it looks like the International Boxing Federation may have to strip Froch of his title if he opts not to fight Stevenson next. Hearn said he wants to try and get an exception from the IBF to steer around the dangerous punching Stevenson, but Stevenson’s promoter Yvon Michel doesn’t see the IBF letting that happen.

As such, it looks like Froch has a big decision to make: Either take the money rematch, if it’s there, with Bute or take on the incredibly dangerous punching Stevenson and risk getting knocked cold. Stevenson is no joke. That guy can really punch with both hands, and he can change a fight around with a single shot. He’s not just some crude fighter with no skills, as Stevenson was trained by Emanuel Steward and he’s got skills out the yin yang.

Stevenson is very talented and if Froch tries to overwhelm him with punches like he did against Yusaf Mack and Bute recently, then that would be playing right into Stevenson’s strengths. He’s so fast that his shots would get there way ahead of Froch’s painfully slow punches and he hits so hard that he could have Froch staggering around the ring ripe to be poleaxed with a straight left hand bomb.

My advice to Froch is for him to decide now whether he wants to defend his IBF strap against Stevenson or not. If he feels that the risk is just too much for him then Froch needs to get it over with and vacate his IBF strap now to save the trouble of the IBF having to come in and strip him of his belt for failing to defend it against Stevenson.

A fight between Oosthuizen and Stevenson would be exciting because Oosthuizen has a lot of talent, and Stevenson hits so hard.