Carl Froch has said that he was not impressed by Lucian Bute's victory over Denis Grachev last night.
It was Bute's first fight since losing his IBF super middleweight title to the Nottingham fighter back in May.
The Romanian-born Canadian has been talking up the possibility of a rematch with Froch in Montreal, which was believed to be a stipulation when the pair agreed to fight.
However, Froch said that Bute's points victory over his tough Russian opponent was far from impressive.
"Let's be honest, it wasn't the most impressive performance from Lucian Bute that I've ever seen," Froch told Sky Sports News. "It wasn't vintage by any stretch of the imagination.
"Bute didn't really impress, but it was a comeback fight from a devastating defeat against myself, so what did people expect?
"He needed to find his feet again, find his confidence. I'm sure he's done that. I think mentally he needed to get that fight in the bag."
Froch now hopes that Bute will accept the offer of a rematch.
"He's got the win and done what he needed to do to re-establish himself," he added. "Now I'm hoping the rematch will happen.
"It's his chance to try and get back the IBF world title I took from him, but he'll have the home advantage this time.
"As a team, we're hoping he takes the fight so I can go out there and give him another pasting."
Froch fights Yusuf Mack at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham on November 17.
Michael Penkman
