I was just thinking about the fight tomorrow and Froch's previous fights. There's no doubts that he has faced the best of the super-middleweight division but whats interesting is how he has separated those fighter who were just good to those who are elite, or at least semi-elite. For example, the Dirrell fight is very telling looking back now - a physically gifted fighter with elite tools but lacking the mental fortitude to become a real presence. The Ward fight revealed Ward as the real deal, a combination of physical skills and mental willpower that will likely see him on the elite level for a while to come The Kessler fight is a slight anomaly to this theory, however theres no doubting Kessler is a great fighter and may go on to do big things at lightweight and there were also some extenuating circumstances. Now, all this reveals to me about tomorrows fight that this is the fight that will confirm Bute's status as elite. It may sound weird but most of the time I can see the desire of a fighter who really has something to prove and confirm his talent to the world, and I believe Bute will pass through the elite gate tomorrow night.
Gatekeeper is harsh for someone like that. How can anyone half sane overlook the fact that he had the guts, unlike Bute, to get into the supersix and made it to the final. No one gave this man a chance to make it anywhere in the tournament, let alone the finals because people saw him as a gatekeeper, yet he proved otherwise. Froch is not a gatekeeper, he's a top 10 fighter. The perfect definition of a gatekeeper is Glen Johnson.
I dont use gatekeeper ina disparaging way, I mean it as in Froch separates the true elite, from just the very good. No offense to Johnson, but he's been beaten by fighters who were nowhere near elite, he's a gatekeeper for contender levelfighters. Froch will only be beaten by a fighter who has the physical skills combined with an extreme mental toughness.
A gatekeeper is usually a tough one dimensional, or two dimensional at best, fighter with obvious limitations who can give real elite fighters a decent fight only to lose as expected. Clottey is a gatekeeper, Collazo, Johnson and so forth. Froch is NOT a gatekeeper, he can adapt when necessary as proven and is a world class fighter. He wasn't expected to beat Taylor yet he did, Abraham or even Pascal. A gatekeeper doesn't go that far in a serious tournament which psychologically and physically crumbled the likes of Kessler and Dirrell.
A gatekeeper is someone like Rubio at middleweight or Barrett at heavyweight. at 168 the gatekeeper is probably Andrade or Bika. Froch is a TOP contender.
Ken Hershman has already said, and it has been repeated many times that Bute was not invited to the Super 6. Froch is a very solid B level guy, who will lose when faced with guys who are more physically talented(Clearly lost to a green Dirrell) or have higher ring IQs(Ward)