In over 20 years of watching boxing I've never seen a belt holder being so humiliated in the ring by a boxer who isn't even a P4P contender. Whatever Bute does, he will never be able to shake off the public opinion view regarding his boxing status, especially of those who have seen him lose. Bute came into the fight overconfident, believing he is the best SMW in the world and considering Froch a mere nuisance not a danger to his status. How wrong he was. But what happened in the ring is not only his fault, it's also the fault of Interbox who I strongly believe did not help Bute the way they've should. A special mention goes to his trainer Stephane Larouche who chose the wrong strategy for the fight and did not seem to have had a working plan B either, if any at all. This was not the way a champion loses, never. If Bute truly chocked, his team chocked with him. Larouche asked Bute before the 5th if he wants to go on and Bute said all the way to the end. Larouche's answer was mind boggling, I hope you know you're going to get KO'ed. The outcome of this fight wiped out Bute's career. From the guy who was supposes to fight Ward for undisputed status as SMW champion, he is considered now a bum of the worst sort. I've seen people disputing he would beat Allan Green. This is the court of public opinion where a career ending humiliation can make people forget all you've done so far. Bute is very good, certainly better than WBO champion Stieglitz. But whether he'll be able to wish or want to come back from this is still a question. What is not a question is that mentally he will never be the same. If stronger, then he will be champion again, either by beating Froch or some other. If he was broken for good, expect him to retire pretty soon. For a former over 4 years champion, being a Bika level gatekeeper will not be an option he can live with.
That's why I wish for a Froch rematch. I believe he can do much better even if he losses I still wanna see him fight Froch Ward or Kessler.
I don't wanna see him stuck again at that level he's been fighting since he was left out of the Super Six. That would be bad for his fans. They waited.. what 3 years? So now we are suppose to wait 1 more ? **** that! Get back in the mix or retire if you can't. It doesn't has to be necessarily with Froch tho I think it's a good option. Because if you don't get the rematch now, You'll end like Pavlik never fighting the guy again even if you wish for it later.Froch probably has 2 maximum 3 more fights in him and if you don't force it on him now when you can, he'll be busy with some1 else later.
Bute was clearly out of his depth against Froch, there could be many reasons as to why that was. Either, he is not as good as a large number of people believed he was and/or he underestimated Froch. Or he plain had a very poor night. Boxing today has become so very fickle. You are only as good as your last fight. 1 loss on the record and the fighter becomes a 'Bum', a worthless, skill-less nobody. It is extremely short sighted and immature viewpoint but there we go, that's how boxing is today. Today Lewis losing to Rahman in their first fight would be viewed differently than how it was at the time. Lewis would likely become a 'bum' in many peoples estimations. Tyson v Douglas anyone? Fact is, Bute is far from a bum, he has fought some good fights and shown nice skill and movement. Surely not too many experienced boxing fans believed the hype that he was gods gift to the SMW division? I hope this loss for him will be a wake-up call that he can build from and come back from, personally I don't think we should write him off so soon. As for Froch, what can you say... the guy is a true warrior. Consistently proving people wrong, like him personally or not, you got to admire his will, his spirit and under-estimate him at your peril.
i haven't forgotten that. . . i just don't think Bute wants it again with Froch. . . Especially not next. . . I always viewed that remtach clause as being there as sort of a safety net in case he got robbed or something in nottingham. i mean, bute literally did NOTHING that would even indicate in the slighest that he would have a chance to beat Froch. . . It's not like it was a knockdown dragout, two-way action masterpiece before he got cracked out. . . nor, was it a situation where you could strike it up to a "lucky punch", or one of those rare, one punch shots taht KO's you out of nowhere. . . THis was a domination, and a destruction.
I agree with you. . But Lewis/Rahman could be struck up to one of those "one shot punches" that kind of came outta nowhere. . . ANd Tyson/Douglas was a two-way *******; both fighers were inflicting some massive damage. . . I don't think we should write Bute off completely either, as there are plenty other boxers who don't pose the same set of problems Froch does in the ring. . . I just think we learned Bute isn't as strong physically as we thought: It's pretty clear his punch resistance is feeble, and he can't tie up very well. . And his high-guard is more porous than a piece of bread. . . And most importantly, he's not nearly as "slick" and "evasive" as a guy should be with that kind of base speed - he doens't bend at the waist well enough to slip a lot of punches. . .
Bute is finished. He will NEVER be relevant at the top level EVER again. Paper champion, protected fighter, padded record, hype job, however you want to describe him it all fits. He has NO business among the top fighters in his division. He's no better than the Euro level fighters Froch destroyed before he fought pascal
This might be a bit harsh, and a big too soon. . . But I guess if you do have to pretty much come to the conclusion that he can't deal with certain styles of boxing, and you have to match yourself up properly to win, then you're not really "fighting on the top level."
Yeah, the problem is not that he lost, it's how he lost It was a one sided beatdown and no elite level fighter should go down like that, no exception. This wasn't a case of lack of concentration and getting caught by ¨lucky punches¨, it wasn't a slugfest where he got the band end of the stick, it was like OP said, destruction, Bute looked helpless like a mouse in front of a snake (or cobra in this case). Froch is a solid fighter but he ain't precissely an ATG, he ain't particularly fast and his technique leaves a lot to be desired, if Bute was more than a hypejob, he should have been able to at least make the fight more competitive. I can't see him recovering from this anytime soon tbh
Bute is still a tremendous opponent and can win a SMW title again, but his chin has been exposed, and opponents will come looking to KO him now.
the way people go on its as if he got beat by a journeyman. froch is elite. end of. he got beat , not beaten , by a future p4p all time great. Not counting the kessler fight. Its not how overhyped bute was. ITS HOW GOOD AND UNDERATED FROCH IS!!!