By Luke Furman
Former super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (31-1, 24KOs) says the rematch with Carl Froch could "take place in the fall." Bute lost his IBF crown when he was stopped by Froch in five rounds on May 26th. There was a rematch clause for a return bout in Montreal. Both fighters have already taken interim-fights. Bute won a tough decision over Denis Grachev at a catch-weight of 170-pounds, and Froch knocked out Yusaf Mack.
Froch's promoter is trying to make a deal for a rematch with WBA "regular" champion Mikkel Kessler and the two sides are reportedly close to an agreement. Bute will be left with enough time to take another interim-fight before a Froch rematch. There have been reports in Montreal that Bute could return in his next fight against an opponent like Edwin Rodriguez or Kelly Pavlik [if his fight with Andre Ward falls through].
"We don't know yet about my next fight. Maybe we'll know by the start of January. If I think that I need another fight before Froch, I'm going to take it," Bute said to Ararat. "But, I do want to fight Froch again because I want to beat him. The plan is to fight in Montreal. The folks at InterBox have told me that I will fight in Quebec or in Montreal."
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org