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Monday 28 May 2012

28/05/12 Froch v Bute IBF SuperMiddleweight Championship

This weekend in Nottingham showcased what turned out to be an incredible fight between British challenger Carl Froch and IBF Champion Lucian Bute. Bute being the favorite looked confident and didn't let any of Froch's Home support get to him, but what followed was to be one of the 'Cobras' best performances to date as he picked up a 5th round TKO over the Romanian. Going into the bout there was much talk over how Froch would handle the Southpaw stance that Bute carries and the KO power he is renowned for, but Froch kept to his word and delivered a continuous flurry of combinations throughout the bout and silenced any critics. With the likes of 'Sugar' Ray Leonard, Amir Khan and Mikkel Kessler at ringside Froch started the fight getting a feel of the Romanian before started to open up the punches, Froch knew he would have to take chances through each round if he was to stand any chance of getting on the inside of Bute's Punches. It was through rounds 2-3 that you could feel Froch was getting more and more comfortable with his style and caught Bute with some great shots. Bute gave as good as he got but underestimated the solidity of Froch's chin. By round 4 Froch knew if he could land a big punch he would have Bute rocked and that's exactly what he did, Bute who was able to stay on his feet got through to the end of round 4, but everyone knew if Froch could replicate the barrage of punches he threw during round 4 and keep up the tempo, Bute would be in a worse situation. Bute had recovered from round 4 but still looked shaken up and Froch wasted no time on going to work, and after getting Bute against the ropes he landed a combination of devastating punches that left the referee no choice but to step in, what everyone had'nt realised was that the ref was actually giving Bute the standing count, but that was short lived as Bute's corner stepped in the ring and waived the fight off themselves. Bute had taken a beating and even struggled to walk to his corner after the fight, it was his first big test in the Super Middleweight division and it seemed he had overlooked the ability of Froch as did many others.
A win from Froch leaves him in a great position for his next match-up, a rematch Kessler is the obvious choice with a chance for Froch to avenge that defeat. The otter option might be a rematch with Andre Ward but for me that would probably hand another loss on the Brits record as Ward seems to stand in a league of his own in that division. The only other option being discussed is a step up to Light-Heavy to take on fellow Brit Nathan Cleverly, although this seems a great match-up i cant help but feel its a step backwards for Froch.
What ever he decides to do he can look back over the last 4-5 years and hang up his gloves knowing he took on the best in the division and never looked passed an opponent, ultimately producing one of the greatest runs of Match-ups from any fighter.

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