Michael Collins: Carl Froch (29-2, 21 KO’s) pulled off a huge upset on Saturday night in stopping IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (30-1, 24 KO’s) in the 5th round to capture his International Boxing Federation 168 pound strap at the Nottingham Arena, Nottingham, UK. The fight was halted in the 5th with Froch tagging a badly hurt Bute at will with heavy shots. The bout probably should have been halted after the 4th round, as Froch had Bute badly hurt up against the ropes and was really working him over. The ropes seemed to be holding Bute upright.
Bute was also hurt in the 3rd round from some hard right hands from Froch. Bute could do very little against the seemingly stronger Froch, because the Romanian’s left uppercuts and hard body shots failed to slow Froch down even for a moment. Froch just kept coming forward landing big right hands and not really respecting Bute’s considerable power. Bute looked clueless at times, especially on the inside where Froch was able to really rough him up. Unlike Andre Ward, who gave Froch problems in close, Bute had no skills at all and was at Froch’s mercy.
In the 4th round, Froch walked through a big left hand from Bute and connected with a nice right hand that had Bute on weak knees. Froch then ripped into him at will until the round ended.
Froch came charging out of the blocks in the 5th and connected with a huge left-right combination. He then fired on Bute as he stood in the corner. Froch landed some big uppercuts and hard right hands until the referee halted it..
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Other action on the card:
Carl Frampton UD 12 Raul Hirales
120-108, 119-109, 119-109
Pier Olivier Cote TKO 5 Mark Lloyd
Erick Ochieng UD 10 A.A. Lowe
