Boxing competition
Carl Froch vs. Lucian Bute, billed as No Easy Way Out, a professional boxing match contested on 26 May 2012 for the IBF Super Middleweight title at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham, United Kingdom.[1]
The card was a co-production of Eddie Hearn's Matchroom Boxing and Jean Bedard's Interbox promotions and televised via Epix and Sky Sports.[2][3] Showtime was not interested in this fight. Bute had one fight left on his Showtime deal. Rumours said that Showtime wanted to put on a fight between Lucian Bute and Bernard Hopkins or Andre Ward instead of Froch.[4]
Background
Froch
Carl Froch was involved in Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament. He ended up reaching the final, losing to Andre Ward. Then, IBF officially enforced Carl Froch as Lucian Bute's number one mandatory.[5]
Bute
Lucian Bute's 3-fight Showtime deal was supposed to culminate in a showdown against the Super 6 winner, but Andre Ward was injured in the final. The American also criticised Bute's record, saying he would need to beat some top opponents to earn the right to face him[citation needed]
Bute agreed then to take a break from his contract with the Showtime channel and to accept what may end up being less than half his usual purse in order to travel to England to face Carl Froch, a two-time WBC champion with established credibility.[citation needed]
"In recent years, I've been criticized for only fighting at home but we never got offers to go elsewhere and I had to keep boxing," Bute said. "I decided that this time, I'll make my 10th defence in Nottingham."[6]
The Fight
Despite being the overwhelming underdog with bookmakers, critics and fans around the world, Froch dominated the fight to win the IBF Super-Middleweight championship of the world by TKO in round 5 to become a three-time world champion.[7][8][9]
