People are being too harsh on Bute. Grachev was a tough opponent to pick after suffering the first defeat of his career, and a bad knockout at that. Grachev is a big puncher with a strong chin. He's also a natural light heavyweight.

What did we learn about Bute? Start off with the negatives: recently, he has had a lot of trouble with distance. I don't really undestand it. Everyone forgets that Bute kept Sakio Bika at bay with little trouble, less trouble than Andre Ward had. He also dominated Librado Andrade for two fights. I understand Andrade caught up with him at the end of the first fight, but Bute had the distance mastered for almost every single round. Something is off about his ring generalship. Maybe age has caught up with him; his reflexes have slipped, which has affected his ability to gauge distance. Here, he let Grachev close the distance at will and he was content to hang around on the ropes, which he should have learned from Froch, is bad news for him.

Also, negative, where's the jab?

On a positive note, he went the distance with a tough guy and finished arguably stronger than he started. He took some big punches from Grachev and never went down. That has to have a good effect for a guy who suffered a dehabilitating knockout last time out.

I don't see the point in not fighting Froch next, even if Bute loses. Bute has shown that he beats B-level fighters. Why do we need to see him do more of that? This is as good as a time as any to face Froch again. It's a big money fight and it'll be in Montreal. He'll have his fans behind him. If he's going to lose, lose to the best.