Froch Wins American Debut

By Jorge Bannister
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

LEDYARD, Conn. — When referee Michael Ortega stepped in and stopped the fight with 14 seconds left in the 12th and final round, Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor was left wondering, “What the Froch just happened?”

Englishman Carl Froch (25-0, 20 KO) flew across the pond for his first “big” fight, and handed the Little Rock, Ark., native a 12th-round TKO with 14 seconds left to retain his WBC Super Middleweight title at the MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods.

Taylor (28-3-1) was dominating through the first eight rounds. He was trailing in the first half of the eighth before he landing a double left hook to the body of Froch and took over from there. Taylor ended the round with a four-punch combination and then a left uppercut just before the bell. After the bell rung, Taylor waved Froch to his corner with his right hand yelled, “Let’s Go!”

Big mistake.

“I had some sloppy footwork and he caught me with some big right hands, then he landed a great left uppercut,” Froch said. “He then waved me off while yelling something, trying to get in my head and lower my confidence — it only pumped me up.”

Froch went on to win the 9th, 10th and 11th rounds. At that point, Taylor was up, 7-4, in the scorecard, according to Fan Fanatic Sports and judges Nobuaki Uratini and Omar Minton. Judge Jack Woodburn saw it 106-102 in favor of Froch.

In the 11th, Froch’s blows were finding their way through Taylor’s guard and landing flush, snapping Taylor’s head back with each punch landed.

The 12th was similar. Froch was landing clean shots, and Taylor matched him for the first five punches but just ran out of steam. Taylor had nothing behind his punches, which were flying wide, and had no legs to him. Froch dominated from there and knocked Taylor down with a right hand to the jaw in the corner.

Early in the fight, Taylor was dominant. He knocked Froch down for the first time in the Englishman’s career. Taylor landed an overhand right to the side of Froch’s head, sending "The Cobra" to the mat.