Phil D. Jay
WBN Editor
WBN Editor
Former IBF champion in no rush for rematch with Carl Froch
Canadian-Romanian super-middleweight Lucian Bute has
admitted that he failed to perform in Nottingham on Saturday night, when he
surrendered his IBF title to Carl Froch in five bruising and one-sided rounds.
The 32 year-old saw his unblemished record drop to 30-1 at
the Capital FM Arena and wants to contemplate his next move before rushing into
a contracted second fight with the ‘Cobra’ on his home soil.
"Every athlete has to admit defeat. Great champions
need to know to lose. I have to learn from this defeat. This is not the end of
the world. I don't think that it’s the end of my career,"
“I need to relax. It was a great mental load. I need time
for my return. On Saturday night, Carl Froch was better.
"Any great athlete must have dignity, to be able to
congratulate your opponent. I was the favourite and everyone thought I would
win easily. We all thought that, even me. Unfortunately, you saw what happened
there.
“I believe that in five rounds I boxed in only one, for
about three minutes. I was totally dominated," he admitted.
“After the first round, I was very sure of myself. I told my
coach that (he was) slow. But things changed in the second round.
"I do not necessarily want the belt back. I want to beat
Carl Froch. I want a rematch - even if there is no belt at stake."
Froch is already making moves to rematch Mikkel Kessler in
the UK later this year and promoter Eddie Hearn told WBN yesterday that he
believes that Bute will likely want to get back to winning ways before he seeks
a return in Canada.