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© Lawrence Lustig
In a matchup that could be a fight of the year candidate when 2012 draws to a close, hometown hero Carl Froch challenges the Canadian based Romanian Lucian Bute for his IBF Super Middleweight title at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham this Saturday night.
For Froch, the challenger, hometown hero is a rarely used phrase. In the past three years, Froch has fought world title bouts in places such as Denmark, Finland and US venues such as Connecticut and Atlantic City.
Froch dominated at British and Commonwealth level, winning both titles as respected domestic opponents such as Robin Reid, Tony Dodson and Brian Magee were despatched.
December 2008 would be the time when The Cobra finally got his chance at world honours.
Froch had long wanted to fight longtime rival Joe Calzaghe, but after the retirement of the Welshman, Froch got his chance against Canadian Jean Pascal for the vacant WBC title in his hometown of Nottingham.
12 pulsating rounds later Froch was a world champion.
If you thought Froch’s title win was impressive, his first defence against Jermain Taylor in April 2009 was nothing short of amazing. After surviving a third round knockdown and behind on two judges’ scorecards, the Cobra rallied to score a 12th round stoppage with only 14 seconds left.
Later that year, the Super Six tournament was born and in a rare uneventful defence, Froch won a close split decision win over Andre Dirrell.
Another fight of the year candidate would then take place in April 2010, this time in a losing effort to Dane Mikkel Kessler in a controversial decision. Froch would however regain the title six months later in dominant performance against Arthur Abraham.
After one defence against Glen Johnson, Froch would lose the Super Six tournament final against the excellent American Andre Ward in December.
Lucien Bute, an absentee from the Super Six tournament in unbeaten in 30 fights. Unlike Froch, who has fought all over the map, Bute has defended his title almost exclusively in Canada. Saturday night will be his 10th defence since October, 2007.
This is a genuine 50/50 matchup in my eyes. Although Bute has stayed mainly in his home country since winning the title, he does hold impressive wins over the likes of Edison Miranda, Brian Magee and Glen Johnson.
Stylewise, this could be an absolute classic. Bute is a smart boxer fighting out of the southpaw stance and he has a wicked left hand which could be classed as his honey punch.
This certainly proved to be the undoing of Irishman Brian Magee in their fight in March last year. There are dangers in this one that Froch could be vulnerable to this shot as well as Bute’s impressive body attack.
It’s a tough one to call. I favour Froch on this occasion. I feel he will have to give the performance of his life to do it but he is certainly good enough to win a tough points decision, hopefully leading to another classic rematch later in the year.
