Carl Froch and partner Rachael Cordingley
The title of this blog is one The Pugilist never thought he would write.
But with the way things are going, the IBF would be absolutely right to remove Carl Froch as its super middleweight champion.
His title win over then-undefeated Lucian Bute has received plenty of attention from Eurosport's boxing section before, during and since. And rightly so.
In fact, the electric battle between the two hard-hitting super middles was a cert for any 2012 fight of the year shortlist and did wonders for the prestige of that version of the belt in an age where the power of titles has been vastly diluted.
Since then, however, it has become increasingly apparent where Froch's future intentions lie. And good luck to him: throughout his career he has always known what he wanted, and done everything in his power to get it.
Froch and Bute have been linked to a return bout in Montreal ever since the original clash in Nottingham. On the back of Froch's fifth-round stoppage of Le Tombeur, the IBF would be mad not to sanction a second chapter.
Nonetheless, it has named another Canadian arrival from overseas — Haiti-born Adonis Stevenson — as Froch's mandatory opponent.
It is being reported that if The Cobra does not defend the belt against Stevenson, whose record stands at 19-1-0 (16 knockouts), he may well have it taken from him.
But while it may seem like the governing body is cutting off its nose to spite its face, Froch-Bute II is not what upsets the IBF, per se.
More so the fear that Froch and promoters Matchroom have no intention of giving Stevenson his shot at all.
Froch's personal agenda appears to be to: a) prove the Bute win was no fluke by beating him again; b) avenge his first professional defeat to Dane Mikkel Kessler; c) avenge his other loss to the WBA and WBC champ Andre Ward; d) retire from boxing.
Nothing about the above itinerary can be considered anything but admirable and lucrative, whether he succeeds or not.
What it does, however, is underscore in hindsight just how little the actual belt meant to Camp Froch in the first place. Even if no belts were on the line, it appears the Bute bout would have meant the same to the Englishman.
It is a damning indictment of the state of championships in boxing, and it's a shame that this situation is the way it is. To preserve what reputation it still has, the IBF cannot allow itself to be dictated to or undermined.
If Froch's 2013 was to hypothetically encompass a Bute rematch in the spring followed by -if he retained - a defence against Stevenson in the autumn, then surely common sense, the fans, and the box office would all prevail.
Instead, the IBF will likely do what it has to do, and Froch will, as always, do what he feels he has to do.
Of course, one potential hurdle remains ahead of this impending political butting of heads: Bute returns to the ring this Saturday against Denis Grachev, while Froch of course makes his first defence against Yusaf Mack a fortnight later.
TP had previously noted that the two agreed to take on light heavyweights seemingly to prepare for the physicality they would no doubt endure against one another again.
But should either man slip up or fail to convince in their November contests, it will be interesting to see where things go from there.
Without a Bute rematch, would Froch simply move on to step two of his retirement tour and challenge Kessler? Or would Matchroom decide to make nice with the IBF and begin talks with Stevenson after all?
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COMING UP:
November begins with a bang for British boxing heads as London's York Hall stages Junior Witter v Frankie Gavin on Thursday evening, with the undefeated Gavin out to send his 38-year-old opponent into retirement:
Frankie Gavin
"Witter's had a good career, he's won the world title, plus Commonwealth, European and British titles, but I believe that this will finally be the end of the road for him when I take that Lonsdale belt from him," Gavin said.
In addition to Bute headlining in Montreal on Saturday, there are four world title fights across the globe: Marco Huck defends the WBO cruiserweight title against Firat Arslan in Germany, while Roberto Vasquez and John Mark Apolinario contest the vacant WBA interim bantamweight strap in Argentina.
Finally, a double-header leads a card in Japan as Shinsuke Yamanaka defends the WBC bantamweight belt against Tomas Rojas, while Nestor Narvaes challenges Toshiuki Igarashi for his WBC flyweight title.