Innnnnnnnnnnnn the red corner, we've got the home-town favourite Jermain 'Bad Intentions' Taylorrrrrrrr (it's not a typo by the way, that's the way the MC introduces them, so I'm gonna do the same. I'll stop now though you've got the picture.) He's up against the unbeaten holder, Carl 'The Cobra' Froch. Who can remember Froch fight in December when he won the vacant belt against Pascal? That was unbelievable, a right old tear up, I'd settle for the same again, with the same result. Having said that, Taylor is a huge step up in class for Froch, he's be in with the likes of Pavlik and Hopkins before.
ROUND 1
Everyone said that Taylor would start quickly, and everyone was spot on. He's started like a house on fire. The Cobra did manage to land with one overhead right, but apart from that it was the man with the bad intentions doing all the work and finding his range with his jab at will. Froch wasn't hurt with anything he received, but the judges would have rewarded JT for his busyness. He's also got the crowd into the fight, and they're howling for British blood.
ROUND 2
Again it's JT who's the busier of the two fighters. Froch is wide open on defence with his gloves hanging from his waistline and Taylor is picking him off at will with his jab. At the moment, this is too easy for him - it's a man versus a boy. While the Taylor jabs continues to rack up points, Froch has barely even thrown a job let alone scored with one. This is worrying signs for the Englishman. The final few seconds saw both fighters standing and trading blows, but that was it as far as Froch was concerned for the round. Froch has fought almost all his fights in almost his backgarden in Nottingham, and maybe, just maybe, he's bitten off more than he can chew with this defence on the other side of the pond? Let's hope not.
ROUND 3
D.R.A.M.A (and with capitals letters) - Froch is down for the first time in his career. First he's hit by a big right
sending him staggering to the ropes, then in the next exchange a short chopping right sends him the canvas. He's up on the count of eight, and sees out the final 30 seconds of the round, but he's badly shaken. Fantastic stuff by Taylor - his hand speed is just two fast for Froch at the moment. Not totally surprising - he is a natural middleweight. The funny thing is that until he was knocked down, the Cobra was having a good round. He was more aggressive, and was landing a few more shots. The bell came at the right time for him, hopefully with a breather between rounds he can find his senses - he should look into next week to get them - I think that was were Taylor hit them to.ROUND 4
Good response in that round from Froch. The break in between rounds seemed to have done him good, and he probably edged that round there. He's also managed to quieten down the crowd after the last round. He's still got his hands far too low for my liking though, and Taylor is still connecting with his jab at ease. The Cobra chin is granite-like though, and though his legs still look a wee-bit wobbly he's out of immediate danger.
ROUND 5
This fight is heating up nicely - very nicely indeed. A little bit of afters after the bell s
how that there's a bit a spice between the two fighters. Fair play to Froch, attack is his best form of defence, and there are signs of him upping his work rate. Taylor hand speed though is still frighteningly fast, and it's still the American who is holding all the aces so far. I don't need to tell you he landed with a good few jabs, but it was one big left hook that just missed which could have spelt trouble for Froch. Froch trainer and seconds are going absolutely mental at him after that round - they can see his title slipping away the way things are going here.ROUND 6
Froch's best round of the fight so far. He landed a couple of decent right hooks mid round - one flush on the chin that I heard and felt here, although Taylor didn't even flinch. Slightly worrying for the man from Nottingham. The round ends with a late flurry from the fists of Taylor, but Froch would have done enough to have won that round. About time too, he'll be well behind on the scorecards at the this the half-way mark.
ROUND 7
Finally Froch has his jab working, and he seems intent on making up for lost time by throwing it every other second. He lands with a few, but most are deflected by Taylor gloves. Still the more he throws punches, in theory the more the judges will be impressed, and he only needs to get through with one of his massive right hand. At the moment, it's Taylor fight to lose. There may be question marks about his stamina, but so far, so good. The crowd strike up another U-S-A, U-S-A chant. Come on Carl ram them down their throats.
ROUND 8
Game on here, and the crowd are loving this - shame there are only 4,000 here to enjoy it and now UK broadcasters bought the fight to screen it live. Shame on them as this fight is turning in something of a classic. That round belonged to Froch just, although Taylor had him in a bit of trouble right on the bell with a lovely left, but too little too late as far as the judges will see it. For the first time in the fight, the Cobra has stung Taylor, and hurt him. A early right hand at the beginning seeming to stun Taylor, and suddenly Froch looked liked a totally different fighter.
ROUND 9
This is definitely a
tale of two fights. In the first half it was all Taylor, but now Froch is starting to take the initiative. He needs to - he's dug himself a huge hole in the early part of the fight which he needs to get out of. The action sees Froch marching forward, but Taylor foot movement was enough to dance his way out of trouble, and he even threw in a few jabs just for good measure. Froch may need to knock Taylor out to win this especially after such a slow start (and he's fighting in Taylor backyard - not that I'm suggesting bias in the judges. That would never happen in boxing, right?)ROUND 10
It's official - Froch jaw is made of stone. Taylor hit him with maybe his best shot of the fight (that's a big call, there have been so many) but the Cobra seemed not to flinch. He blinked, smiled (or maybe grimaced) and then continued his all-out offence and managed to dominate the remainder of the round. Froch is winning the battle of the jabs easily now - he's connecting first, although he's not getting through enough to hurt Taylor enough.
ROUND 11
These next two rounds could be the biggest in Froch's career. At the moment, he looks destined to lose his belt in his first defence. Two huge rounds though could swing the balance in his favour, and he seems to know this. His greater stamina is coming to the fore now and Taylor is almost a sitting duck who's barely throwing anything back. Froch is throwing some punishing blows here, as Taylor looks like he's run out of gas. Can Froch land the clean punches he needs to turn this fight around?
ROUND 12
YES he can. Th
is is un-be-lievable. Froch wins, the referee stops the fight with 14 seconds left on the clock. Would you believe it? Let me just catch my breath, that was amazing. What a round, what a fight! Froch finally landed to land his right bomb a minute into the round, and that was the beginning of the end for Taylor. You could see his legs just went, the moment the Cobra struck. Taylor managed to keep away from the raging beast that was Froch until the 45 seconds left when Frochy cornered him, and sent him to the canvas. Credit to Taylor, he's got bottle though, and manage to get to his feet by nine, although that was the slowest nine count I've ever witnessed. The ref may have saved Taylor then, but 20 unanswered blows later, he had to jump in and stop the fight. Like I say, unbelievable.Froch wins and retains his title, but only, only just. He was probably 14 seconds away from defeat there. He won't care though, and he'll know he was so close to throwing away his dream. What next for the Cobra? He's always wanted Calzaghe? Can he coach the Welshman out of retirement for the Battle of Britain? Unlikely.
For Taylor he just couldn't finish this fight off when he had Froch in trouble. This fight is a mirror-image of a title fight he had against Kelly Pavlik. he knocked Pavlik down, but lost on a split-decision unable to finish him off.
All pictures courtesy of Getty Images
