British boxing hero Carl Froch is no stranger when it comes to making headlines.
The former world champion was always exciting to watch when he stepped into the ring, with Froch’s fight series with George Groves being a prime example of his entertainment value.
Retiring with a professional record of 33-2, Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward are the only men who hold victories over ‘The Cobra’. However, Froch was even able to avenge his loss to Kessler three years on from the loss.
There was one man who was extremely close to handing Froch his first loss before Kessler. As Froch was looking to defend his world title, he needed to dig deep to pull off a comeback victory.
Carl Froch was nearly defeated by Jermain Taylor in 2009
Froch became a world champion for the first time in December 2008, defeating Jean Pascal for the vacant WBC World Super Middleweight title.
Four months later, Froch welcomed a challenge from Jermain Taylor, who was 28-2-1 at the time. Taylor is also one of the few undisputed world champions of the four-belt era, having defeated Bernard Hopkins in 2005.
However, he was close to becoming a two-time champion when he faced Froch.
Froch’s title was seemingly slipping from his grip in the third round, as the Englishman was stunned and knocked down for the first time in his career. Although Froch recovered, ‘The Cobra’ was not able to get a clear front foot in the fight.
After 11 rounds, two of the judges had Taylor ahead in the bout by four points, meaning Froch was heading to a first career defeat. However, Froch was able to dig deep to have a hearty showing in the 12th and final round.
The champion was relentless in his approach, hunting down Taylor who was trying to survive the final minutes of the title fight. With just under a minute left in the round, Froch would finally catch Taylor with a damaging enough punch to put him to the canvas.
With 30 seconds left in the round after the restart, Froch began to unload all of his energy through punches as he unleashed a barrage of shots on the challenger. As Taylor was taking too much punishment, the referee waved the fight off.
There were just 14 seconds left on the clock when Froch was given the TKO victory, showing how close he was to his first career defeat.
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Carl Froch had his first career loss in 2010
Almost exactly a year after being run close by Taylor, Froch would succumb to his first professional defeat.
Looking to defend his WBC World Super Middleweight title, Froch was challenged by Kessler in his home country of Denmark.
In what was a convincing performance, the challenger won via unanimous decision, spoiling Froch’s 26-0 unbeaten record.
The Englishman would reclaim the crown later that year, before dropping it again to Ward in 2011. However, for the final five fights of ‘The Cobra’s’ career, he would go unbeaten.
Froch defeated Lucian Bute, Kessler, and Groves on two occasions in an impressive ending to his career.