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Carl Froch has confirmed he will fight Lucian Bute in a rematch next March in Montreal but will meet an unnamed opponent in Nottingham before that.

Froch, 34, became a three-time world champion with an impressive fifth-round stoppage of Bute in May.

Bute, who suffered his first career defeat against Froch, had not been expected to trigger his rematch clause after suffering a sustained beating.

Both fights will be for Froch's newly acquired IBF super-middleweight title.

Despite being the underdog in his home city of Nottingham Froch stunned Bute with a relentless onslaught.

Bute was saved by the bell in rounds three and four, before his corner called a halt in the fifth as he was receiving a standing count.

Bute insisted: "That was not the real Lucian Bute in that Nottingham ring on 26 May.

"I spent the last few weeks reflecting about what went wrong, what happened, and the only thing that is crystal clear in my mind is that I want my rematch with Carl Froch as soon as possible."

Froch said before their first meeting that the Nottingham crowd would intimidate Bute and he will have to deal with the same situation in the rematch, with the fight scheduled for Bute's adopted home city.

Bute, 32, was born in Pechea, Romania, but now fights out of Montreal in Canada.

Froch is keen on a rematch with Mikkel Kessler this autumn according to promoter Eddie Hearn - in 2010 the Dane inflicted the Briton's first defeat