By Luke Furman
Former IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (31-2, 24 KOs) will likely work with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach for his scheduled return on December 6th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, according to TVA Sports. While two sources close to the boxer have confirmed the information, Roach has yet to confirm the news on his end.
It's not clear if Roach will actually be working in Bute's corner, because the trainer will be deep in training camp with WBC middleweight Miguel Cotto for his ring return on December 13th at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Bute will return for the first time since suffering a twelve round decision loss to countyrman Jean Pascal on January 18th.
Promoter Jean Bedard of InterBox says Bute will return against a "quality opponent."
"Lucian wants to make a comeback in a big way. He's always attracted good crowds, even before he was world champion," Bedard told QMI Agency. "From the moment the team is formed, we will accelerate the selection of the opponent.
"It was necessary in his case [for Lucian to take an extended layoff]. He had a lot of questions. It was important for him to understand what had happened and what was going on in his career for the last two or three years. He was no longer able to perform as he did in the [previous years]."
