By Rick Reeno
BoxingScene.com has heard that HBO is considering a tentative date of April 17 to bring back IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute. No opponent has been set. Two names being thrown around are Bernard Hopkins and Kelly Pavlik. Based on the recent chatter, neither of those two are going to be the actual opponent. Pavlik has no immediate plans to leave the middleweight division. Hopkins will not drop down to 168. There in some interest on the side of Bute to fight Hopkins at 175. It appears, for the moment, that Hopkins is more interested in fighting IBO cruiserweight champion Danny Green.
If Bute's HBO date is locked in, the broadcast would go head to head with Showtime's Super Six doubleheader, which features Andre Ward defending the WBA title against Jermain Taylor, and Carl Froch defending the WBC title against Mikkel Kessler.
