By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (28-2, 20 KO’s) and IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (29-0, 24 KO’s) are reportedly close to signing a two-fight deal with the first fight taking place on April 14th in Montreal, Canada and the second fight happening four months later on August 4th in Froch’s home city of Nottingham, England.

This is the fight that both guys really want. Froch thinks Bute is a paper champion and believes he’s the superior fighter capable of knocking him out and taking his title. Bute, 31, sees himself as the best fighter in the super middleweight division but as of yet he’s still faced anyone halfway decent other than 42-year-old Glen Johnson who Bute recently beat.

I’m not sure why Froch is signing on to fight the first bout in Montreal, because it seems like a stupid thing to do when you’re coming off of a loss like the one Froch suffered against Andre Ward last month, but he’ll learn the hard way. Froch probably couldn’t get the fight in a neutral venue even if he tried because Bute is the champion and Froch is now just the challenge, and fight in Montreal will make a lot of money for both guys.

I still think it’s a really bad idea for Froch because he won’t win a decision over Bute in Canada and he probably wouldn’t credit for a knockout even if Bute was out cold. We already saw Bute get knocked out once in his career against Librado Andrade and still win the fight after being given a delayed count.

Froch can at least try and clear things up in the second fight in Nottingham, but that opens up a whole new thing if he wins if. They both could have one win a piece and I can see them wanting to fight a third fight, fourth and so on until someone clearly wins. Froch has the power to knock Bute out but it’s not going to be easy because Bute likes to back away after he throws his shots.

You have to time him when he moves into get his punches off. You can also time Bute when he’s getting ready to throw his uppercuts. He’s so in love with that punch that he throws it all the time even from long range. You wait on that punch and nail him with a straight right and that’s it.

Bute has to beat Froch in both of these fights to get a fight against WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward. A win in just one fight won’t do the trick. Bute has to win both fights and then beat Andre Dirrell for Ward to give him a shot. Right now, Bute is more like a contender rather than a champion and he’s got to work his way up to a real title shot against Ward.

Bute may be a champion but he’s a paper champion until he fights Ward and proves he’s better than him. He’ll never beat Ward, and I can see Dirrell whipping him as well. I doubt Froch will beat him because he’s going to be coming into the Bute fight licking his wounds from the Ward fight and probably at a career low in terms of self-confidence.