5. Carl Froch KO 3 Yusuf Mack – 2012
https://youtu.be/5p7VMFLJ14Y?t=24m40s
‘The Cobra’ Carl Froch was a three-time champion at this stage of his career. His credentials were tried and tested and he had cemented his place as one of the standout super-middleweight champions of his era.
Froch was always known as a rugged operator inside the squared circle. Froch was your typical bullish, British fighter that looked to get inside that ring and dominate while working at mid-range behind his ramrod jab.
But Froch always had weaknesses on the inside, a statement backed up by his Super Series final showdown loss against Andre Ward. But what is important in this knockout, is that Froch learned from that and came back with a superior offence on the inside.
He also showed the ability to be able to hurt an opponent to the body. Something he had not shown as of yet in his career, a beautiful right hand, left hook combination sapped the air from Yusef Mack’s tyres and left him withering in agony on the canvas.
4. Carl Froch TKO 9 George Groves – 2013
Groves was a brash, outgoing young challenger who had been amassing quite a following. Groves was undefeated and had racked up stellar victories, including over 2008 middleweight Olympic Gold medalist, James DeGale.
‘The Saint’ came into this fight flying high and full of momentum, he was going to take some stopping. In the first round, Groves backed up his claim that he had revealed in the lead-up to their first fight that he would send Froch crashing to the canvas off a right hand.
Groves established from the opening round that he was the faster, sharper fighter and it was evident Froch was going have to pull the rabbit out of the hat to get the victory on this night.
Froch was outgunned in every department, through the first eight rounds. He however, demonstrated true championship quality by making it a brutal affair down the stretch.
‘The Saint’s legs began to fail him as Froch upped the pace in the memorable first part of this ongoing saga.
3. Carl Froch TKO 5 Lucian Bute – 2012
The obituaries had been written for Froch at this stage of his career. He was coming off an emphatic one-sided loss to the masterful Andre Ward and many had doubts whether he was capable of returning to championship glory.
Froch was taking on the reigning IBF super-middleweight world champion, Lucian Bute. Bute was tried and tested at world championship level he had been the champion for five consecutive years, racking up eight title defences along the way.
The pressure was on Froch, as he prepared for his homecoming in front of a boisterous crowd at The Nottingham Arena. Froch silenced all the doubters and dominated from start to finish, the referee saw fit to call an end to the proceedings with the Romanian being pounded against the ropes, early in the 5th.
2. Carl Froch KO 8 George Groves (II) – 2014
Following the lack of a conclusive ending in their first fight, ‘The Cobra’ had unfinished business with Groves who stressed his belief that had Howard Foster not called a premature halt to their first fight, he would have gone on to claim victory.
Froch made the mistake of not being thorough enough in his preparation for his first fight with Groves. There would be no repeats second time around, however.
Froch locked himself away in isolation in Sheffield and focused on whipping himself into tip-top fighting shape one last time.
‘The Cobra’ was switched on from the start in this fight and seemed to neutralise Groves advantages that were so clearly evident in their first fight. Froch controlled the exchanges and ring space and gradually picked away at his young challenger’s untested resolve.
In front of 80,000 fans at London’s Wembley Stadium, Carl Froch laid the icing on the cake of what has been a stellar career. Emphatically scoring the biggest one-punch knockout of his career against Groves in his final appearance in the ring.
This fight was awarded The RING magazine’s knockout of the year and additionally, The RING magazine’s event for the year of 2014.
1. Carl Froch TKO 12 Jermain Taylor – 2009
https://youtu.be/sJMCW9pRLzA?t=1h4m
It was always going to be a toss-up as to whether to place this knockout at number 1. The other obvious contender for the top spot, being the George Groves rematch knockout at number 1.
I personally feel this knockout just edged the race. Put simply, this is the fight that really put Froch on the map and revealed him to the world stage.
On 25 April 2009, Froch fought Jermain Taylor in his first defence of his WBC super-middleweight title. The fight took place at the Foxwoods Resort in Foxwoods, Connecticut.
Froch survived a third-round knockdown the first of his entire career, amateur and professional. Froch was behind on two of the three judges’ cards coming into the final round.
He managed to stop his opponent with 14 seconds remaining in the 12th round to retain his WBC super-middleweight title in the most emphatic encounter of his career.
After the fight, Froch was quick to send out a verbal challenge to unbeaten Welshman and nemesis Joe Calzaghe in search of the ultimate matchup he had always searched for.
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