Hope i'm way out but I have Bute winning by wide UD. His technical abilities and superior speed will be the key to this fight. Froch's wide swinging overhand right hands are just too predicable for Bute. Like I said, hope i'm wrong.
Bute to win, and I can see him stopping froch in the mid to late rounds. I was unsure but listening to that tit McCrory tip Froch based on his usual biased reasoning has convinced me of it. Whenever McCrory uses lazy logic to pick a fighter you can guarantee they'll lose.
Bute by dominance - speed and skill - southpaw stance and sounds like he has brought over a few supporters. Bute will dominate but i expect a controversial close draw or split decision - similar to the dirrell fight.
So, nothing like the Dirrel fight then :-( I actually can't see any way that Froch can win this fight other than to get a break and walk Bute onto one of his outrageous uppercuts....one has to land sometime.
Bute. Probably decision but I dunno, I have a nasty feeling he may stop Froch. Hope not, Froch is a proud man and that'd wreck him.
Since then he's fought Dirrell, Kessler, Abraham, Johnson and Ward. The only two who don't have proven excellent chins are Dirrell and Ward and both are hard to hit clean. Before that, he failed to stop Pascal who is another very tough fighter. Bute is the weakest chinned fighter he's fought since Taylor, so there is the chance of a stoppage, I think. Froch may not be a knockout artist but I think he has enough power to hurt Bute, despite what his recent knockout record is like.
The decision will be like the dirrell fights decision. Dirrell didnt dominate but he sure landed more than froch. He lost because of a hometown decision. Simple, if the fight was in USA, dirrell wouldve won that
Got a feeling this fight could have some parallels to Calzaghe-Lacy, in that an unbeaten champion is coming over who's looked very good in beating B level fighters in the division but for the first time is stepping in with someoen at the top of the division. But I certainly don't see Carl dominating Bute in the way Calzaghe did with Lacy, however I think he can get the win. It will be a very close fight for me either way and one that should go 12 rounds. I can honestly see Froch taking rounds- for me the key weapon is his right hand to Bute's southpaw stance. I think the main asset to beat Carl is quick, intelligent foot movement and doubts remain to me on how good Bute's is. I can see Froch getting into the range he likes because it's also the range Bute prefers for his counter punching. If Carl can make his jab really control the fight, he cuts off the possibilities for Bute to throw wicked punches from different angles. One factor which I normally consider a weak argument but which really is pertinent with Froch is his resilience and will to win. He really does ground out performances, even when his co-ordination looks way off. I see this being a hard, gruelling 12 rounder which is very tight and which, with home advantage, Froch could just nick. Should be a great encounter.
The first 4 rounds will be really interesting, Froch will try to box smart but come up short and will have change things up, I really hope he can rough bute up and take him out.