Carl Froch picked himself up off the canvas to retain his WBC super-middleweight title with a dramatic win over Jermain Taylor.
Nottingham super-middleweight leaves it late in Connecticut
Carl Froch dragged himself up off the canvas before delivering a last-gasp stoppage to retain his WBC super-middleweight title against Jermain Taylor in Connecticut.
Englishman Froch was knocked down for the first time in his career in the third round and fell behind on the scorecards over the following rounds, trailing on two of the three judges' scorecards by 106-102 heading out for the final round.
However, with time running out, the Nottingham fighter launched a dramatic comeback to stun former undisputed middleweight champion Taylor and knock him down.
Taylor received an eight-count after an initial right-hand combination, however there was no stopping Froch and, with just 14 seconds of the fight remaining, another barrage of furious punches forced referee Michael Ortega to stop the contest.
World class
"I backed my intuition that Jermain Taylor was tired," Froch said of his dramatic finale.
"He was badly hurt and not defending himself. He wasn't even looking at me, it was a great decision by the referee.
"(Trainer Rob) McCracken told me and I knew I had to have a big 12th round and I got it.
"Jermain Taylor was world class. This was my first defence in America and the first of my big fights"
The victory in only Froch's second professional fight outside England stretches the 31-year-old's unbeaten record to 25-0 with the 20th knockout of his career.
The defeat took Taylor's record to 28-3-1 in front of 4,000 gripped spectators at the MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods Casino Resort.
The American was the busier fighter in the early exchanges, a big right hand onto the head of Froch in the first round setting the tone and shaking "The Cobra".
Round three saw Taylor's dominance continue and the fight opened up again when he caught Froch on the chin with a left jab and then knocked the Englishman to the canvas with a clean right hook.
Ferocious
Froch beat the count but looked shaky and will have been relieved to have heard the bell signalling the end of the round.
"I didn't see that coming," Froch said of his visit to the canvas. "He hit me with two right hands and I didn't see them coming.
"I'm all right, that's boxing. I got my composure, I took the eight count."
Taylor believed he had the fight won at that point, saying: "I thought to myself 'I'll take my time and be smart'. I trained my hardest, he just stayed with it and he got it."
Froch made use of the break between rounds and gradually got himself back into the fight before his final round assault.
Two right hands snuck through Taylor's defences and the challenger was sent tumbling in the corner of the ring and he did well to regain his feet before Ortega's 10 fingers went up.
Froch wasn't done, though, and his flurry of accurate and ferocious punches saw him retain the gold in style at the death.
