By Luke Furman
Canadian super middleweight Lucian Bute (30-1, 24KOs) received five stitches above his left eye, a product of the beating that he took from Carl Froch on Saturday night in Nottingham. Froch (29-2, 21KOs) stopped Bute in five rounds to capture the IBF championship at 168-pounds.
There have been questions about Bute's chin and some wondered whether he was capable of taking a punch. He seemed bothered by every hard punch that Froch was able to land. Yet, the Canadian star disputes that there are any problems with his ability to take a punch.
"If I had no chin, I think I would have went down earlier in the fight. It was a very tough loss, but I'm okay. It's a very tough defeat, but I'm okay. It's part of boxing. All great fighters have lost. It is not the end of the world. For now, I need a few weeks to get a good rest. Training camp was hard and long. I'll take three weeks to a month off and after that we'll discuss what's next. But I keep my head up high. I will return," Bute said.
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org
