Robert Stieglitz backed out of a fight with him in July. Stieglitz reportedly turns down fight with Bute, Cunningham signs with Sauerland - Bad Left Hook

I'm using "backed out" loosely because it looked like Stieglitz simply punked out. It was a good effort, however, by Bute to unify the belts while he was a titleholder.

There isn't much in the way of quality remaining opposition. I know a lot of people hate on Bute. So, my question to the haters is who could Bute fight to improve his standing in your eyes? My personal opinion is that since his next fight is in Romania, a fight with "The Shark" Diaconu for Romanian boxing supremacy makes sense.

I don't want to see him dominate Bika again even though Bika has a belt and the Brinkley fight fell through. Hopkins wouldn't be a bad choice either. I doubt Pavlik would take on Bute in his first step up in weight considering what happened his last venture at that weight against Hopkins.