You can't coast with a pressure fighter as aggressive as froch, from is smarter than Andrade and doesn't march into punches.look at how awkward froch is against dirrell and Magee and they are great southpaws, frochs uppercut in close could be more devastating to bute than butes uppercuts. If froch gets close to bute he will take everything he learned from ward with him.
If froch is on form then he wins but if he loses it's cos he didnt turn up.

After reading the comments on this thread who is even the favorate in this fight?

I always thought Froch was but it seems a 50/50 fight in most people eyes.

This is not a 50-50 fight.. Bute wins easy

Bute by late stoppage, Froch is too slow and his defense ain't good enough to deal with Bute's speed and power on a southpaw stance.

Originally Posted by DavilaJones

Bute must put the hurt on to Froch's body early on becaue Bute does tend to tire out as his fighting style is very draining. In all Honestly I think the fight will be decided in the first four rounds. Not due to a KO but because by then you'll see who came in the ring with a better plan.

That said and done I think Bute will do exactly that and slow froch to a crawl where he's reduced to pop shotting and counter punching.

Actually, Bute never tired in a 12 rounds fight except against Andrade in the very last round because he tried to play the bulldozer in order to please the crowd. bank on it: He won't lack any energy during the whole fight and as Froch doesn't have Andrade bull's jaw and style, he won't drain him down in the last third.

Butes fight vs magee he was very sharp (3 kd's) but I couldn't get the feeling out of my head that he was very drained as the rounds went on even though he wasnt in a fast paced fight.

That being said I still think Bute wins it.

Originally Posted by Dark Lord Al

People talk about Bute's power , but i think he hits alot harder than Jermain Taylor , so he could hurt Froch , it will likely be on points but Bute could stop the wide open Froch for my money.
I do admire Froch , he really is a throw back to an era when fighting the best out there mattered more than keeping an unbeaten rocord.

I totally agree with that. In that respect he puts a lot of top boxers to shame. No matter what with Froch you know he will do everything he can to win and even if he can hardly stand, he wont give up. He is like a real Rocky. Unfortunately he takes as many punches in the face as Rocky did in his fights.

Froch stoppage!

Originally Posted by FinitoElDinamita

This is not a 50-50 fight.. Bute wins easy

Your favorite SMW disagrees: Dirrell Says Froch Beats Bute, Talks Andre Ward, More - Boxing News

Dirrell is bound to say that Froch beats Bute beacuse Froch beat him. I think Bute is far too quick for Froch and is definitely the better boxer. Froch hasn't KO'd anybody at world level unless you count Taylor who just didn't have the stamina to finish twelve rounds -- while he was operating at full speed he easily outboxed Froch and put him down. I think Bute could even stop Froch, Froch looked slow in his last fight and Bute has more power than Taylor.

Froch matched dirrells Roy jones speed with amazing timing. Bute fights to a pattern that he can't change on and off!! Froch will naturally time him as he began timing ward, dirrell has twice the speed of bute and with equal power. Froch and his Ben grim chin will stop bute.

Originally Posted by Dropanuke

Froch matched dirrells Roy jones speed with amazing timing. Bute fights to a pattern that he can't change on and off!! Froch will naturally time him as he began timing ward, dirrell has twice the speed of bute and with equal power. Froch and his Ben grim chin will stop bute.

That will be the key to Froch winning, timing his shots. Most of the top fighters know Froch is slow and think they can out box him.

i think froch has got it in him to pull out perhaps one last top level performance

people seem to think bute has some thunderous power

wheres the evidence of this? is it coz he has knock out a bunch of second tier fighters who have all been knocked out before? and quicker?

one result that wont happen in Bute KO

the most likely results are froch KO and Bute on points

Bute UD unless Froch gets a hometown decision like he did against Dirrell. Bute will be more offensive than Dirrell was though, so it will be harder to justify a BS points decision for Froch.

Zero chance of Froch KO'ing Bute. As someone above pointed out, Froch does not have KO power against top-level guys. It remains to be seen whether Bute does -- but even if he does, Froch has about as good a chin as anyone.