By Edward Chaykovsky
Top super middleweights Andre Ward and Andre Dirrell were not surprised with Carl Froch's fifth round destruction of previously undefeated Lucian Bute on Saturday night in Nottingham. Bute, who mostly fought against second-tier opponents in Canada and didn't take part in the Super Six tournament, was not highly regarded by the other top names at 168-pounds. Most of them believed the Montreal superstar was being overhyped. Froch proved them right.
Prior to the fight, Ward wrote the following - "I can envision Froch putting a lot pressure on Bute - and physically and mentally breaking him down."
After the fight, Ward, who decisioned Froch last year in the final bout of the Super Six, wrote - "Bute can be broken. Well, what can you say? Carl fought the right fight by pressing Bute and answering him whenever Bute did land - it worked!
Dirrell, who lost a twelve round decision to Froch in 2009, lashed out at Bute for his lackluster performance - "Bute is a bum, he can't even make it to the corner. Welcome to the real world Bute."
