what now for bute?

[Leighton]

I was a big fan of Bute and I'm absolutely gutted. I give Bute all the credit in the world for traveling to Nottingham to take on Froch, even though it back-fired in the worst possible way. He clearly came to Nottingham brimming with confidence and left literally on a stretcher. I feel horrible for the guy.

I'm not completely writing Bute off, but it's going to be a lot to come back from. If asked whether I see him taking a win at the top level ever, I would answer definitively in the negative. We have to be realistic. Bute showed after Bika, Andrade and Johnson that he could handle decent preassure. This is a chin issue. Froch is a decent puncher, but not a murderous puncher. He hadn't had a knockout in three years. He hit Kessler and Abraham with bigger punches, and they didn't fold. Did Bute ever throw his patented uppercut? How many real punches did he actually land? 3-4? It appeared that once he felt a single punch from Froch, he folded, and his whole fight plan went out the window. In my opinion, Bute takes on Froch at home in the rematch in September, makes a lot of money on Showtime, loses badly again, and then retires. One more night of 7 figures would probably be worth it.

He's made enough money that there is no reason to put his life in danger further. He's given me many great fights and his uppercut is still a classic. I hope he gets out of the game with his facilities intact and money in the bank.

As a fellow Bute fan I cannot agree. Fighters lose both good and great fighters get beat down. Now he lost fair and square and Froch deserves all the credit that he gets but that was not Lucian Bute on Saturday but some photo shopped version that had a lobotomy prior to the ring walk. It certainly was not the Bute I have watched since he turned pro.

He was mentally taken out of the fight by the elements long before the bell rang. He fought stupidly and should have asked for a ten foot ring. He stood right in front of Froch like his feet were nailed to the floor. He needs a sports psychiatrist because sooner or later he was going to have to leave Quebec anyway. This crushing loss could also serve as a catalyst for improvement. The great ones battle through adversity. Armstrong was knocked out in his first fight and then lost two of the next three.

I'll remain optimistic.

I completely agree with you. I have never seen Bute looked so out of his element. He didn't fight anything like I've seen him in the past. He didn't move. His reactions weren't like they usually are. His punching power didn't even seem there as it usually is.

@IamInuit , listen I hate to be harsh, as you know I'm a Bute fan, but he's alread proved over and over that he can beat the Sakio Bika's and Glen Johnson's of the world. Do we need to continue to see him do it? Clearly, he's better than that. He's in between a rock and a hard place here. I would love to see him take the rematch with Froch and avenge his defeat, although the odds would be heavily stacked against him. Otherwise, where does he go?

If he wants to test his worthyness at this level there is always Dirrell and Kessler if he does not want to fight Froch again. He might want a confidence fight before he fights another top fighter though. When he takes on any of the top four we will get a better picture of his worthyness at top level.
I would not be too demoralised. It has happened to good fighters before. Look at Khan vs Prescot.
Khan got destroyed by prescot in there fight now Khan is at the top and Prescot sinking lower and lower. One bad fight does not mean the end, It just depends whether he has the go in him to pick himself up, learn, improve and train hard for the next fight.