Unbeaten Froch keeps title with thrilling late stoppage

Britain’s unbeaten Carl Froch recovered from his first knockdown to stop Jermain Taylor in the dying seconds of the 12th round Saturday and keep his world super middleweight title.

Froch stunned the US star early in the last round and pummeled him until referee Michael Ortega halted the fight at two minutes and 46 seconds of the 12th round - denying Taylor a title he was only 14 seconds from capturing.

“What I did in the 12th, that was unbelievable,” Froch said.

The Englishman, sent to the canvas for the first time in his career in round three by the former undisputed middleweight champion, had no idea he trailed by four points on two judges’ scorecards and needed the knockout to win. “I showed a little composure. I got up and knocked him out in round 12. What do you want?”

Froch said. “I came out here to make a statement on American soil and I believe I made it.” Froch improved to 25-0 with his 20th stoppage inside the distance to retain the World Boxing Council super middleweight throne while Taylor fell to 27-3 with one drawn, losing for the third time in his past four fights.

“Big respect. He’s a great fighter,” Taylor said. “He stuck it out to the 12th round. He just kept working, stayed with it.”

Had the fight gone to the judges’ scorecards, two of them had Taylor ahead 106-102, meaning he would only have had to stay standing another 14 seconds to defeat Froch.

Taylor tired as the fight wore on and in the 12th was stunned by a right from Froch with 1:50 remaining. Taylor evaded, flailed and escaped but Froch dropped him to the canvas 45 seconds from full time with a powerful right hand.

Taylor rose and said he was ready to continue but Froch attacked with a fury and pounded 15 unanswered blows upon the challenger, whose cover began to weaken prompting Ortega to halt the fight. “He was defenseless. He wasn’t throwing anything back.

I said enough is enough,” Ortega said.

“My only concern is the safety of the fighters. I don’t concentrate on the time - 14 seconds, one second, the main thing is he goes home to his loved ones.” Taylor did not express dismay at the decision. “He’s a ref,” Taylor said. “He thought it was time to stop it and he stopped it.” Not surprisingly, Froch thought the decision a just one as well.

“I do think he did the right thing,” Froch said. “He was badly hurt.

He was not even defending himself. His arms were dropping I could have done what I wanted to him. Great decision.”

Taylor dominated the early rounds and with 42 seconds remaining in the third knocked Froch down with a hard right to the head. “I didn’t even see that one coming,” Froch said. “It was over the top.”

But Taylor began tiring in the middle rounds as Froch landed his rights more often, bloodying Taylor’s nose in the 11th as the fighters exchanged flurries in the best round of the bout, setting the stage for the final drama. “Coming into the last round, I was hoping my intuition was right and Jermain was tiring from dealing with my pressure,” Froch said.

“I was outjumping him the whole contest but I knew I needed a good 12th round.”

Froch called out retired Welshman Joe Calzaghe in hopes of luring him into an all-British showdown of unbeatens. “If he gets out of his armchair I will show everybody what I can do,” Froch said.

MASHANTUCKET, Connecticut, Sunday, AFP