By James Slater: Credit must go out to IBF super-middleweight king Lucian Bute who, InterBox president Jean Bedard told Fightnews.com, is desperate to give the fans a great fight against former two-time WBC champ Carl Froch.
Unbeaten Bute, 30-0(24) wants to fight Froch next, on April 14th (most likely in Canada), even if TV network Showtime – for some crazy reason – isn’t keen on the match-up at all. Reportedly, Showtime want Bute to fight former WBC title challenger Andre Dirrell next. Okay, a Bute-Dirrell fight has intrigue to it and this is no stinker of an idea; but from a fan’s standpoint (especially a fight fan that loves a slugfest), the idea of Bute Vs. Froch is enough to send shivers down the spine.
This is why I feel credit must go to Bute: he and his team say they are going to “do everything in our power to make the fight with Froch,” and “we owe this fight to our fans.” And so, Team-Bute will fight Froch whether Showtime agree to show it or not. Of course, Froch himself must agree to the fight (will “The Cobra,” who has talked about having a hometown fight against a top-10 contender on May 5th, want to travel to take the Bute fight instead?), but being the warrior he is, there is a good chance Froch will accept the fight.
If Bute-Froch does happen, hopefully some TV network will buy the live rights to it. The styles of the two men all but guarantee a great, all-action battle. Bute, coming off a dominant win over Glen Johnson, will likely enter the ring as favourite, especially if the fight does go down in his adopted homeland of Canada, but Froch can never be written off. Certainly Andre Ward, only the second man to have beaten the Nottingham warrior, has said he feels Froch is good enough and strong enough to have a chance at wearing Bute down.
Ask a fan, any fan, and chances are high they will tell you they want to see Bute and Froch rumble. Showtime, however, “does not share the same vision or enthusiasm.” Again, I really am struggling to see why. I’d be willing to bet the superb Al Bernstein – a fine commentator for the network who has seen his share of classics and recognises a potential classic when he sees one – is in disagreement with his employers over this one!