Brick City Boxing

By: Rob Tierney, ringside

Mashantucket, CT: In what can now be considered the leading candidate for 2009’s comeback fight of the year, Carl Froch stopped Jermain Taylor with 14 seconds left in the final round at the Foxwoods Casino late Saturday Night. In the Brit’s gutsiest performance to date, Froch successfully defended his WBC Super Middleweight Title with a jaw dropping comeback.

For eight rounds, Jermain Taylor boxed brilliantly. He peppered Carl Froch with perfect jabs and kept him at bay with powerful right hands. It appeared as if he was on the way to a title winning performance. However, all that changed late in the fight.

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After coming off the canvass in the third round and trailing by four points on judges Omar Mintun and Nobuaki Uratani’s score cards, Carl Froch pulled off the unthinkable by sending Taylor to the canvass late in the 12th before forcing referee Michale Ortega to stop the fight at 2:46 of the final round. Taylor and his camp were devastated.

Promoter Lou Dibella commented on his fighter’s loss at the Foxwoods press conference early Sunday Morning. “For twelve rounds, you saw a superb Jermain Taylor. Put aside the Champion’s technical shortcomings, Carl Froch is a beast.” Lou Dibella

Just as was the case against Kelly Pavlik in September of 2007, Jermain Taylor put up a beautiful performance only to get annihilated in the end. After the fight, Taylor expressed his thoughts as to why he was unable to hold on during the remaining seconds of the year’s most thrilling bout. “I was under the impression that I was down,” he explained to reporters. “I thought I was boxing beautifully but my corner told me that I needed to win the last two rounds.” While this may have been the case on Jack Woodburn’s score card, Jermain was in position to win a convincing split decision victory.

As for the new Champion, he was not at a loss for words at the press conference when commenting on his biggest achievement to date. “I punched him hard,” Froch told the press. “I broke his spirit.” Still, even with the excitement he instilled upon the 4,000 fans at the Foxwoods Casino late Saturday Night, Carl Froch was quick to critique his own performance. “I got lazy with my jab and I left my chin out,” he explained to the press. “I was doing everything wrong for the first eight rounds.”

However, it’s how the Champion finished the fight from the eighth round on that will forever leave a powerful presence in the memories of his beloved fans. Without question, Froch was losing the fight. He looked as if he was on his way out in the third and by the eighth it had appeared that Taylor was gaining a psychological advantage. In fact, Taylor taunted the Brit at the end of the eighth round. I asked Carl what he thought of Taylor’s taunts and if it impacted his psyche.

“It’s was just a bit of Jermain’s bravado,” explained the Brit. “It was just a little bit of gamesmanship.” With the win, Carl Froch improves to 25 and 0 with 19 KO’s. Taylor, on the other hand has now suffered his third loss in 7 fights. Yet, even with the fans at the Foxwoods foaming at the mouth for a rematch, it appears that Froch and his promoter are not interested in taking on the now 28-3-1 Arkansas native again.

“Not really interested in a rematch,” explained promoter Mick Hennessey. “There are other big fights and unification opportunities.” IBF Champion Lucian Bute, who was also in attendance, was mentioned as a possibility.

On the undercard, rising 168 pound sensation Allan Green scored an impressive 2nd round TKO over Carlos De Leon Jr. The bout, which was also aired on Showtime, included four knockdowns enroute to a technical stoppage at 1:54 of the second round. Green improved to 28 and 1 with the victory and appears to be canvassing for a shot at Carl Froch’s WBC Title.

Prior to that, Brooklyn native Paulie Malignaggi scared his fans in the 6th round of his under card bout. He was pummeled by little known Chris Fernandez of Salt Lake City, Utah and appeared hurt at the closing bell of the 6th. Still, Malignaggi went on to win an 8 round unanimous decision improving his record to 26 and 2. It was the first time that Malignaggi has entered the ring since losing to Ricky Hatton last fall.

Previously undefeated Heavyweight Johnnie White was sent packing on Saturday Night by former Heavyweight contender Dominick Guinn. White, who was unbeaten in 21 fights, suffered a dangerous knockout loss at the hands of Dominick Guinn in 2:01 of the first round. Guinn is now looking to revitalize his career. He improved to 31 and 6 with the win.