Froch: "I'm going to punish him"

Froch and Bute will go toe to toe this Saturday Credit: Colin Ashby

Carl Froch says he feels fit and strong ahead of his IBF super-middleweight title bout against Lucian Bute on Saturday in his home town of Nottingham.

Carl's trainer Rob McCracken said: "It takes a brave man to come and face Carl. No one has ever beaten Carl in Nottingham."

Froch lost his last fight against American Andre Ward in the SuperSix tournament in Atlantic City, losing the WBC/WBA supermiddleweight unification title fight.

Froch said: "It was a very bad night for me against Ward. I have a lot to prove. But I have been on the road a lot which has been hard."

Canadian Lucian Bute is undefeated and says he's excited to be here.

"Since I was last here I spent seven weeks in a training camp. It went well, I have worked very, very hard for this fight. It is not an easy fight for me," he added.

Bute's trainer, Stephan Larouche added: "We have had to prepare Bute for a war"

Froch and Bute will fight at the Capital FM Arena this Saturday.