Carl can be a Brit of alright against Bute

JOE CALZAGHE believes home advantage will be the key to Carl Froch beating Lucian Bute. Undefeated Bute, 32, puts his IBF super-middleweight title on the line in Nottingham on May 26. And Calzaghe reckons the Cobra can draw on the passion of his hometown crowd to rip the belt from the southpaw's grasp. The Welsh legend told SunSport: "Bute's defintely the favourite but home advantage does count for a lot. "If Froch can drag him into a war and make it a toe-to-toe affair, I can see the crowd spurring him on to the win. "All I would say is that Bute wouldn't have come to England unless he was confident. "It's going to be a tough, tough night, but I think Froch has got a chance." Froch, 34, last boxed in December 2011 when he dropped the WBC crown to Andre Ward in the final of the Super Six tournament. He took the defeat squarely on the chin and vowed to bounce back in style with a homecoming on British soil. Promoter Eddie Hearn handed him the chance to do exactly that against Bute and Calzaghe cannot wait to see how the bout unfolds. He added: "It's going to be another tough fight for Froch and Bute is the favourite. "He's undefeated, a southpaw and is very powerful and strong, while Froch is coming off a loss where he pretty much got beaten comfortably by Ward. "Fair play to Froch, he's looking for redemption and deserves credit for the fact he's been willing to travel to people's backyards in his last few fights. "He's got what he deserves — a big fight in Nottingham — but it's going to be tough for him." It has been suggested in some quarters that a less dangerous opponent would have been a better option for Froch's first fight back in Britain since October 2009. But Calzaghe has backed his former verbal sparring partner's decision to continue doing things the hard way. The ex-world champion said: "You have to have big fights. When you've boxed on the big stage and in the Super Six, you don't want a comfortable fight. "Realistically, there aren't any comfortable fights for Froch now and title challenges will always be difficult. "The only problem you've got is if you can't get yourself geared up for a big, big fight, you're in trouble. "But he's been on the big stage for some time now and is only looking for big fights. "In my opinion, the day he can't get those big fights is the day he'll retire."