Undefeated - and relatively unknown - Carl Froch (25-0) retained his WBC super middleweight champion by stopping former champ Jermain Taylor (28-3-1) with just 14 seconds remaining in the twelfth and final round. Froch was dropped for the first time in his career in the third round and was behind on two of the three scorecards entering the 12th. Fortunately for Froch, Taylor was running on fumes at that point and was decked by a big right hand. Taylor was able to beat the count but was unable to defend himself after absorbing a series of punches along the ropes and referee Michael Ortega correctly jumped in to stop the fight.
Scores at the time of the stoppage were 106-102 for Taylor on two scorecards and 106-102 for Froch on the third. In other words, Taylor simply needed to make it to the final bell to win the title - even after being knocked down. The win was somewhat reminiscent of Julio Cesar Chavez's dramatic - and controversial - KO of a fading Meldrick Taylor with two seconds left in their 1990 classic.
With the win, Froch establishes himself as a name fighter in the U.S. with loads of potentially interesting options ahead. Getting Joe Calzaghe to come out of retirement is most likely unrealistic but a Taylor rematch, Mikkel Kessler, Lucian Bute, Librado Andrade and Allan Green are all possible opponents.
As for Taylor, it's tough to say where he goes from here. He's still only 30 and fought well for most of the fight. On the other hand, he's 3-3-1 - and has been stopped twice - since winning two close decisions over Bernard Hopkins. Ideally, he'll take a break and discover a training regimen that will allow him to maintain his work rate through a full 12 rounds. Easier said than done.
Comments
What a fight, but did Taylor really need to throw that punch before Froch knocked him down in the last? I’m not convinced – http://www.heavensports.com/boxing/froch-seeks-calzaghe-taylor-win/
Froch vs Calzaghe – Would be a fascinating affair!
I congatulate Carl Froch “but” valuing his performance with Taylor, I think his camp still has alot of to do if they are interested in retaining the belt for a while. His lucky escape to retain his belt was Tailor’s lack of enough gas to burn for just few more minutes.
Taylor out classed him from start till he started to run out of gas.
Best of luck Froch!
Oshodi
What was a mostly boring fight, with Taylor ahead on my card, became a thriller in the end. I suggest Taylor has been largely over-rated and early in his career very carefully matched to win. But he has shown he has serious stamina issues and I do wonder why. Before going into more training, it may be wise for him to have a complete medical work-up. He has also shown he can be knocked out, perhaps more and more easily, and this should be looked at before he suffers a sad and permanent injury. He is just 30, has earned a lot of money, and may have peaked, so why not give it up and look to a long and healthy life.