How I would want Carl Froch to fight Lucian Bute (Technical thread)

My take :

First my thoughts on Froch as this point

Nuts and Bolts :

Boxer puncher who shows more discipline now than ever.
Good jab, single and double which offers him a range finder, and a defensive tool. Under-rated wepone when he goes to the body.
Good right hand, capable of shooting it straight and looping it mid flight, this increases it's chance of landing despite a telegraphed look.
Cast Iron chin
Very good Stamina (Age considered)
Uppercuts with both hands, which are sometimes thrown from too far out.
Brilliant trainer and tactician in his corner.


Froch peaked in the Super Six tournament, he had retained his physical tools into his mid to late thirties, and made a mental adjustment to be more of a pugilist than a face first brawler. Factoring in Carl's length, his under-rated jab, brilliant corner, and chin this suited him well and we saw the results.

Froch had always felt he was in the shadow of Joe Calzaghe, the Super Six tournament would be his arena, his stage to prove that he was better than Joe, that he (Froch) had faced the best competition of his era and beat them.

I think Froch put everything he had into that tournament, mentally and physically. The fact is that he's 35 years old and closer to the end of his career than the biggining. The game plan below is suited to the Froch from the Super Six tournament, which may turn out to be different from the man that we see in May.

Nuts and bolts about Bute :

Southpaw
Nice jab, which he is capable of doubling and trippling up on.
Very good body puncher
Improved defense
Sharp and precise puncher
Good punching fluidity
Under-rated corner man, who tells it like it is.

Bute is on the right side of a rising tide right now, he appears more polished everytime he fights (Though opposition is questionable and not on par with Froch's recent fights) and shows more defensive awareness now than he did previously. (Case and point the first Andrade fight) Bute shows good power, and an ability to grind his man down by going to the body. Lateral movement and punching fluidity are key points when it comes to analysing Bute.

His chin may be suspect.
There are questions over his opposition
The fight is away from home
He will be eager to make a statement.

How I would advise Froch to fight :

The crowd in this fight, may be as much of a problem early on for Froch, as they are for Bute. For the first two rounds, I would have Froch fight conservative, pump his jab, doubling up whilst walking forward. Stay behind that jab, and do not put your chin in range of Bute early. It's a new enviroment for the Canadian, don't allow him to land early and gain confidence. Stay composed, and shoot the right hand as warning when Bute gets too close. When shooting the right hand, take half a step to your right, (Back foot, to the right) in order to keep the angle straight, rather than unconventional and suited to a southpaw.

When Bute does get close, establish lead foot position. At a speed dis-advantage as well as from a technical stand point, tactical superiority is vital for Froch.

Do not throw those long looping upper-cuts in the first few rounds, you will leave yourself exposed to either a right hook over the top, or a straight left down the shoot.

There must be a pretence of defence for Froch, if he's jabbing he must pivot to the side and keep his right hand up, Bute is capable of precise fast punching, and it's not good to take too many. Use the jab as a defensive tool, use it to get Bute to concede ground, then occupy that space, in other words establish to the judges that you are in control of the ring.

4th round onwards there must be body work. Froch keeps his left hand low, I'd spend the entire training camp trying to drum that out of him here, especially when he goes to the body. Jab to the pit of the stomach, and bring your left hand back covering your chin, likewise when shooting a straight right to the body. A right hand to the chest of Bute would be a good idea too, shock him; take his breath for a moment, make him uncomftorble in strange surroundings. In terms of Bute's body work, Froch should shoot his straight punches with his elbows tucked in, otherwise he is too exposed. If Bute gets too close, grab him. The referee will break you and restore your advantage with distance.

Froch is in Nottingham, so close rounds are not going to be a bad thing for him, do not go gung ho in the last thirty seconds, it's an un-needed risk.

Press the action later. Froch is an offensive fighter, it's his bread and butter, educated preassure is key, show the judges you are the aggressor, you want to take the title from the Champion, this is your house, you are king here. feint to the body and come upstairs to the head, scoring shots whilst remaining responsible with your own foot movements and head movements.

The crowd don't matter, you're in a do or die situation. Follow the game plan, trust your initiative and don't go getting caught when you don't need too just to impress spectators. Discipline, tactical knowlege and range is where Froch could win this fight.

(Just an estimate, I wouldn't bank on the above)

 

I know it's not a Mayweather or Pacquaio thread, but do me a favour and try to talk some real Boxing.

 

Bute has a foot infection...no joke.

Good analysis btw.

Bute will kill him to the body. I just hope that he will ill soon..

 

I have tickets for the fight, so fingers crossed he over comes it!

 

great post SJ :good

 

Froch's ace in this fight is stamina. Bute tires later on and especially in the Championship rounds (see the first fight against Andrade). Even against Glen Johnson, he couldn't step it up in rounds 11 and 12. Froch on the other hand is strong all the way until the end. He really stepped it up against Ward, and starting coming into the fight in the 10th round and onwards (although it was too late by then).

 

It suppose to be fine , well i hope!

Great anylisis..............for a Froch fan

 

I think Froch and Bute both have a tendancy to try and fire off a few punches and then stand off. I think if either could sustain their attacks they would be more damaging, Froch has a good chin and could I think do that a bit more, but he lets people off. I think if Froch had of pressured G Johnson he could have found a stoppage and I think Froch hurt Kessler in round 5 but seemed to let him off.
I like Froch but find him frustrating to watch at times

 

I agree. Froch needs to start slow and work his way into the fight. He needs to grind the **** out of Bute for 180 seconds of every round. Bute's basically fell over from exhaustion against Andrade in their first fight. He used to have a lot of waisted movement but he's been working on cutting that **** out of his game. He still has too much though so Froch only hope really is to take Bute's structural flaw and excentuate it. He'll have to win a couple of the first six and hope to win most from the 6th round on. That or pull out the stoppage in the championship rounds.

 

I think Froch will have some success with his fastest punch - the jab.. until Bute times it and figure it out. I also think Froch won't be able to land his wide power shots and will be countered. I predict we will see pain on Carl's face more than once in this fight if not a body-shot KD

 

I prefer SJS tips. Going to the body is a good idea. Starting carefully and not letting Bute build his confidence early is not a bad plan either. Showing to the judges he is the boss of the center of the ring could give him some close rounds.

Counting on Bute's stamina is all wrong. You give one example of it: Andrade 1. Bute had a food poisoning before the fight and hadn't his normal energy. Against Johnon, his left hand was bruised from round 5 or 6. He couldn't hit with full force. He had absolutely 0 stamina problem in that fight. He won very easily round 11 and 12. Apart from Andrade 1, Bute had always been the stronger fighter at the end of his fights. Many fighters since Andrade 1 said they wanted to exploit that "weakness". None has been able to do it. I don't think stamina is a factor in this fight, unless Bute being abroad takes away his energy. We don't know since he's never faced a strong opponent abroad.

 

Very good analysis.

(Out of interest, did you lose your vcash on Mosley beating Canelo?)

 

Another great break down, my man! Froch really does have underrated boxing skills; he can fight off the back foot behind that jab very well.

He needs to stay out of that "danger zone", which is mid-range: He is a bit rangier than Bute, so he shuld transition from boxing off the back foot, and then mixing it up a little, closing the gap, getitng in Bute's chest, and just making it a dog fight. . make it ugly if you have to by clinching up, and bullying him around. . . I don't encourage cheating, but nobody's looking if you use some elbows (he's got some pointy, sharp ass elbows too!) Heh heh, nah. . . Take some tricks from Hopkins book, though.


I like the idea of shooting that jab, and straight right to the body, and especially the chest - I call it "the heart stopper"! (stolen from Danny Green!) But like you said, he HAS to keep them hands up, and bring them back very fast, because he's vulnerable enough for the counters with Bute's speed advantage, and surgical precision, and timing - so going to the body just opens you up that much more for counters. . .

But there is no need for him to try to stand in the pocket and exchange; that is the best way to get yourself KTFO'd with a guy like Bute. . .

I'm about to leave for the gym, but I want to touch up on a few more issues you pointed out later. . . So thread will be bookmarked, and discussed further at a later date, as the fight gets nearer (IF it's not cancelled/postponed - PLEASE GOD NO!)

 

Bute suffered from food poisoning in the first Andrade fight

Furthermore, he injured his left hand against Johnson.

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I just hope that's part of Froch's strategy to tire Bute out. It will be easier to counter him.

Edit: yeah, I pretty much repeated what laffie said. But with a beautiful picture.

 

Froch-fan level analysis right there :deal