Froch destroys Bute

Well who saw that one coming?

I for one certainly didn’t but I’m happy as Larry that I was there to see the demolition.

Carl Froch claimed the IBF super-middleweight title after destroying Lucian Bute inside 5 rounds to in his home town of Nottingham in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Froch was the underdog going into the fight, with many feeling the Romanian champ was too slick for the British warrior.

But Froch shocked the boxing world, not by simply defeating the undefeated Bute but by demolishing him in a performance full of power, determination and focus.

Backed by a capacity and raucous crowd, started quite tentatively with neither throwing too much as they felt each other out. Froch landed with one or two more flurries and in my opinion took the first round.

Again there wasn’t much to talk about for most of the second round but in the final minute or so Froch landed some shots on Bute that momentarily worried the champ and had him clinching Froch, who won round 2 in my opinion also.

Things really picked up round 3. Bute actually started quite well, landing a few solid shots on Froch before the Nottingham man turned up the heat. After he was tagged by Bute, Froch pushed forward and “bum-rushed” But landing left and rights which caused the champion to back up onto the ropes and invite Froch onto him.

That was definitely a big mistake on Bute’s part and Froch hammered away with lefts and rights, with each punching drawing a loud response from the Nottingham faithful.

Bute, whose legs seemed to have gone, grabbed onto Froch and then, idiotically, backed himself up into another corner and allowed Froch to tee off again before clinching again. It was a pattern that continued through to the end of the round, with Froch teeing off as Bute lay against the ropes and clinching whenever he got the chance. Even though there was no knock down, there’s no doubt in my mind that it was a 10-8 round to Froch.

Bute deserves a bit of credit for sticking in there but as walked back to his corner after round 3, any confidence he had going into this fight was visibly gone from the Canada-based champ.

Round 4 was fairly even, that is until the final 20-odd seconds. Froch charged Bute, who was against the ropes, and proceeded to hammer away with the bell saving Bute from his first loss. Bute struggled to find his corner following that attack from Froch and I was surprised his corner didn’t pull him out then and there.

However Froch wasn’t to be denied on this night and he jumped on Bute from the very first second of round 5. Froch stalked his opponent around the ring and backed him up onto the ropes before unleashing a barrage of power shots that had Bute’s rocked Bute’s had back numerous times.

The referee jumped in and looked as though he stopped the fight, only to attempt to give Bute a standing 8 count as the champ struggled to keep himself upright.

But that was all immaterial as Bute’s corner walked into the ring to retire their fighter out and end the contest, to give Carl Froch his third world title.

Here below is the post-fight press conference:

Hear what Froch had to say on the fight:

Hear what promoter Eddie Hearn had to say on the fight: