Froch's final round stunner! Taylor left crestfallen
Published April 26, 2009 by Martin Bean
Nottingham’s Carl Froch notched one of the great British boxing victories of the modern era, as he stopped former Undisputed Middleweight World Champion Jermain Taylor dramatically in the twelfth and final round.
It had all started so badly for the former British Champion, who seemed out of sorts –sluggish, easy to hit and soon on the canvas in the third round following a stunning right hand from Taylor, who had made a bright start. Indeed, the Arkansas native was showing the sort of form that had taken him to the top of the middleweight ranks for the first five rounds, landing the jab effectively along with his powerful right hand, but his work rate tailed off from the sixth onwards, allowing Froch back into the fight.
From rounds six to nine, Froch would do more work and seem to be on course to take the round but would thenget tagged by occasional eye catching combinations by Taylor, so there could be no real certainly as to whether the judges preferred the quantity of Froch or the quality work of Taylor.
But in rounds ten and eleven Froch really began to asset his authority, landing superb right hands and finally making use of his excellent ram rod of a jab to keep Taylor at bay.
In a superb contest, Froch knew he needed a big final round but wasn’t aware of how big a round he needed—in a rare show of uniformity, all three judges had Froch, defending his WBC Super Middleweight Title for the first time, losing by margins of 106-102. Taylor just needed to survive the final three minutes to take the title.
Coming out for the final round, Froch’s coach, Robert McCracken made it clear to his charge he needed the last round big; and my oh my did he deliver! A quick start to the round from Taylor caused concern in the Froch camp but the Brit then took over, pinning Taylor to the ropes. There he landed a great right hand which sent Taylor to the canvas, with just 45 seconds remaining in the bout!
Taylor rose at the count of nine and it was undeniable that he was hurt—Froch didn’t want to let the opportunity pass and quickly trapped Taylor on the ropes again and unleashed combination after combination, before Taylor hit the canvas again and the referee stopped the contest—just 14 seconds from the end.
After such a great bout, a rematch could definitely be in the offing and it’s a fight Taylor wants. However, Froch has bigger fish to fry and is determined to lure Joe Calzaghe out of his retirement—Froch should hope that the Welshman doesn’t take him up on his offer as he is simply way too easy to hit.
For Taylor, I have great concerns. There is no doubt that he is a fine physical specimen with quick hands, good movement and real talent. But, the mental side of his game is lacking. He seems to have real doubts that he can do the twelve round distance as shown by his lack of work from the sixth onwards—he only seemed to work in the last minute of rounds and in the twelfth; when the finish line was in sight.
It will be interesting to see where both fighters go from here but if there is a rematch, you can be sure I will be there!
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