Nobody knows for sure. Bute always dominates his opponents and barely lost any round in his entire professional carrier. Ward easily outbox him? Don't think so! His inside style is perfect for Bute's bodyshots and uppercuts and his lack of power will not be enough to keep Bute at range. He will stalk him all night. I dont think Ward has meet anyone with 1 punch KO power like Bute has. In a neutral place its a 50/50 fight, in Oakland on the other hand we will have an MMA fight...
Ward will never fight outside his home town with his personal referee to protect him. Bute would knock him out!
One quite unexpected result of the S6 is that nearly all of the participants are now extremely over rated. All these guys except Kessler made their bones fighting Pavlik's left overs, or fighters who aren't as good as Pavlik's left overs. They did not suddenly get better just because they joined a tournament. I would pick Bute to beat any of them without hesitation.
Bute looks good ,but against what opposition. I think anyone who can back him up really makes it an easy night for themselves. I have Ward , Froch and Kessler all winning in clear but competitive fights. That is unless Bute ups the competition level , I mean Pascal has fought at a higher level than Bute and looks the goods , Bute is still untested by the very best.
Let`s see my opinion: Regarding the ranking of Bute can be mentioned Ring Magazine positioned him No.1, surpassing Ward after Andrade second fight till the victory of the last over Bika, so a year.However, despite the scores, the victory of Bute over the same man was obviously clearer. But was a lot of pressure in US to put their fighter as No. 1 so the home figher received some sweet scorecards which served as a motive to make the switch. If you make reference to Top 10 p4p rankings you`re perfectly right, but the voters of ESB decided he`s a Top 15 p4p figher.This is not only who you beat but of your potential.Period. Bute - Froch Man, I respect you and your fighter but the large majority of rankings still have Bute as No. 2(including Ring) acknowledging superiority of the Romanian. Bute 8-4 Bute-Kessler The same reasoning as above.Bute 7-5 Bute-Ward In my opinion is the single fighter from SMW who can beat Bute but in the same time showed him a lot of respect which I suppose includes fear also.Is a 50-50 fight from me but the majority give the edge to Ward. I will not contradict you with the rest excepting Johnson is a little more difficult than appears. So it`s 7-0-0 or 6-1-0. Note:Is ver probable that Ward to be the most difficult fight for Bute from SMW and LHW assembled.It`s very probable that if Bute pass this test to stay unbeaten untill the enf of his career.
I'd pick him to go 6-1 at the moment. He might be able to beat Ward aswell. Can't honestly see how you've got this version of Kessler beating him. He might go 5-2 and lose to Froch though, but I'd make him favourite.
Froch has a great chin Kesslers power was still there. But he has lost the coordination and accuracy in his punches. For me it seems like he had already eye problems in the perdomo fight