Jermain Taylor down in the 12th round against Carl Froch in Mashantucket, CT. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

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Carl Froch stunned Jermain Taylor with a late comeback that resulted in a stoppage with just 16 seconds left in the fight, keeping his WBC super middleweight title and his undefeated record, and sending Taylor's career back into limbo.

Taylor (28-3-1, 17 KO) lost his third fight in his last four outings, and it came with the same questions that were raised against Kelly Pavlik. Taylor started hot and was downright dominating Froch for much of the fight. I had him up 106-102 going into the final round -- Taylor had used a piston-like jab and some good power shots, decking Froch in the third round. It was the first time Froch has been down in his pro career, and he recovered quite well. But the difference in handspeed, athleticism and skill was clear much of the fight.

However, in the middle rounds, Taylor seemed to slow down just a bit. He was still winning the fight, but in the final few rounds, it was Froch who took over. In the 12th round, he attacked Taylor with a ferocity, clearly feeling he needed the KO. He turned out to be right: Two of the official judges had it 106-102 Taylor, same as I did.

Froch floored Taylor, who tried desperately to hang on. With 16 seconds left, the referee jumped in to stop Froch's massive assault -- it was the right call. Even though there was almost no time left in the fight, Taylor couldn't be allowed to be pounded on anymore.

For Froch (25-0, 20 KO) this is a huge win. It's by far the biggest win of his career, and completely legitimizes him. Yes, he's a little slow of hand and a bit basic overall, but he's got a granite chin and legit power. He's also got a lot of heart. He will eventually run into someone good that beats him. Taylor could beat him in a rematch. But he didn't have enough to go all 12 full rounds with Froch tonight.

On the undercard, Allan Green waxed Carlos De Leon Jr. with four second round knockdowns, which led to a stoppage. Green will likely fight IBF super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute this summer. Should be a good one, though I think Bute outboxes him with relative ease.

In Puerto Rico, Juan Manuel Lopez beat the hell out of Gerry Penalosa for nine rounds before Freddie Roach stopped the fight on behalf of Penalosa. Lopez (25-0, 23 KO) was completely dominant, breaking down Penalosa's defense and just wailing on him for most of the fight. Penalosa went out a warrior, falling to 54-7-2 (36 KO). It may well be his final fight, but who knows? He turned it into a firefight and it didn't work out, but he sure as hell went at it hard.

On the HBO undercard, Willy Blain (20-1, 3 KO) messed up his right hand and was stopped by the referee against Lamont Peterson (27-0, 12 KO). It proves little that we didn't already know about Peterson, and I hope he steps up sooner rather than later.

In Germany, Felix Sturm predictably stopped Koji Sato after seven one-sided rounds. Sato clearly had no business in the ring with Sturm, who seemed like he was performing at about 80% of his full power. The fight was everything we thought it would be.

We now fully gear up for the final days leading up to the huge showdown between Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao next Saturday. It's gonna be a big, big week, so stay tuned.

We will be LIVE tonight with round-by-round coverage and scoring of BOTH of the big cards on American TV. Showtime kicks us off with Froch-Taylor at 9pm (B-side: Green-De Leon Jr.) and HBO joins the party at 10pm ET with Lopez-Penalosa (B-side: Peterson-Blain).

I think there's a decent chance I'll be able to handle, in order: Green-De Leon Jr., Froch-Taylor and Lopez-Penalosa. The timing should work out -- should. Might not, but should.

Either way, someone will be around and we'll be here. Join us for what promises to be a hell of a night of boxing.

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Quick Note: I know I haven't gotten around to posting the results of Williams-Wright, but I'll either get that up before these cards or I'll just put it all together for early next week. Apologies!

Second Note: We will have live, round-by-round coverage of both cards on Saturday night, plus tomorrow night's special ShoBox, which I'm also going to throw into the picks mix.

Third Note: We're not going to pick the undercard bouts this time around, because none of them are...I dunno, big enough or competitive enough. Feel free to throw your picks out, but we're not gonna count them. Too many people won't know one guy or another guy.

Friday, Showtime: Cory Spinks v. Deandre Latimore (12 Rounds - Vacant IBF Junior Middleweight Title)

Spinks (36-5, 11 KO) has been out of the ring following back-to-back losses to Jermain Taylor and Verno Phillips, and that layoff has now reached just about 13 months to the day when he climbs into the ring on Friday in St. Louis. Both are natives of the city so there won't be any real homecourt advantage. You all know Spinks: He'll do what he does, and I doubt the layoff will make him any less effective. I also feel compelled to again argue that Verno Phillips had no business getting the decision against him last March. That was some pretty bad ringside judging from my view, but then again my view was a Don King webcast. Col. Bob had it for Spinks, too, but then again Spinks was the house fighter. (I didn't have it quite so wide as Col. Bob.)

Spinks turned 31 in February. Across the ring from him will be 23-year old Latimore (19-1, 16 KO). Deandre has been sitting on his ranking since upsetting a baked Sechew Powell on Friday Night Fights last June. That fight was a massive step up in competition for Latimore and for whatever reason (munchies? paranoia?), Powell seemed totally disinterested and unprepared. It's hard to really learn a lot from that fight. Powell just was not mentally there. Latimore has a good KO rate, but Spinks has been stopped just once, by Zab Judah in 2005 at 147 pounds. He's slick, hard to hit, and will be without question the best fighter the young Latimore has ever faced.

I hate to do it. I wanna say the young blood gets the nod. Don't think it's gonna happen, and I suspect if it does it'll be some more questionable scoring that does the real deed. Spinks UD-12

Featured on the undercard: Devon Alexander should wipe the mat with Chuy Rodriguez.

Saturday, Showtime: Carl Froch v. Jermain Taylor (12 Rounds - Froch's WBC Super Middleweight Title on the line)

Speaking of guys facing their best opposition ever, that's what Froch (24-0, 19 KO) has on his hands as he makes his first business trip to the States to meet Jermain Taylor on the semi-neutral ground that is Mashantucket, Conn.

Taylor (28-2-1, 17 KO) bounced back from consecutive defeats to Kelly Pavlik to wail on Jeff Lacy last November, but one thing about that sort of bothers me with regard to Froch: Lacy is a pretty slow-moving, durable guy with some power. He hurt Jermain in that fight. Froch is a fairly slow-moving, durable guy with better hand speed and more initiative than Lacy. Froch can dish out some good blows, too. The fact that Jean Pascal made it to the distance against Froch in their December war spoke highly of both guys, I thought. Each of them turned in what was probably their career-best performance.

Froch has a lot to prove. Beating Taylor could mean a payday back home with Mikkel Kessler if promotional issues get sorted out there, or a fight back on the road with Lucian Bute in Montreal down the line, and Bute fights are money at the Bell Centre. If Taylor wins I'm not sure what he'd want to do. I can't imagine him going over to Europe to fight Kessler or anyone, nor do I think he'd venture to Montreal to fight Bute. Taylor is The Star of these guys, at least in America, at least relatively speaking. He'll want them to come to him. He could take a "stay-busy" sort of defense against Allan Green should Green win on the undercard, since Taylor-Green was the idea for this show before Showtime ponied up for Froch. Eventually I figure he's going to 175 anyway, for better or worse.

Buuuut, back to the matter at hand: I really like JT. He's one of my favorite fighters, and by that I mean he's one of my favorite guys in boxing. Humble, funny, easygoing, doesn't talk a ton of trash, never seems to want to get all "personal." I think he's going to lose this fight. I think at some point, Froch is going to press him, hurt him, and move in for the kill when he sees an opportunity. Taylor fought Lacy with a mild arrogance that wasn't befitting a guy that needed the W to get his career back on track. Froch is hungry enough, strong enough, and good enough to really take him down if that happens again. Maybe a mild upset to some, but I'm going with the titleholder. Froch TKO-10

Featured on the undercard: If Allan Green's colon is good and he stops looking at his feet, he should be able to handle Carlos de Leon, Jr. -- but an upset would not surprise me in the least.

Saturday, HBO: Juan Manuel Lopez v. Gerry Penalosa (12 Rounds - Lopez's WBO Junior Featherweight title on the line)

Juanma (24-0, 22 KO) has become one of the sport's most exciting young phenoms, and with James Kirkland likely done for the time being, he might just be the most exciting young, already established fighter in the sport. Hell, he might've been anyway. Your mileage may vary.

Lopez really hasn't fought much at all in about a year, when Jonathan Oquendo took him into the third round. Since then he's brutally waxed Daniel Ponce de Leon in a fight where many thought he might finally meet some real resistance, then he got rid of Cesar Figueroa in 47 seconds, and then Sergio Medina disgraced himself and the sport with the debacle in December in which he clearly did not come to fight, defend himself, or do anything but collect his paycheck, go home, and make up stories.

36-year old Penalosa (54-6-2, 36 KO) has been boxing professionally since 1989 -- yup, 1989. Ken Griffey Jr.'s rookie season. Brett Favre wasn't even in the NFL. The now-retired Oscar de la Hoya was three years away from Olympic gold. Look Who's Talking was the fourth-biggest movie in America.

What a world.

He has a wealth of experience, he's a cagey veteran, and he's a good boxer. He took Ponce de Leon to the limit the last time he came up to 122 pounds, only to have the judges score it obscenely wide for Ponce. Returning to bantamweight, he ripped Jhonny Gonzalez and sent him packing from the division, then stopped Ratanachai Sor Vorapin in April of last year. He took a tune-up fight in February, beating undistinguished Mexican German Meraz over 10 rounds.

It would be foolish of the Lopez camp to think they'll run through Penalosa as they've done the last three guys they've fought, and as they've done most of the guys Lopez has faced in his career. But I think that's more or less exactly what's going to happen. Penalosa is three inches shorter (5'4") than Lopez and has the exact same disadvantage in reach (68" - 65"). Lopez is a good boxer as well as being a powerhouse. He's bigger, younger, faster, stronger. Lopez TKO-4

Featured on the undercard: Lamont Peterson takes on Frenchman Willy Blain, who has no power (20-0, 3 KO) but a legit amateur background. I get the feeling Lamont has a tougher time with Blain than he expects, but pulls out a decision win.

If you hear a rumbling in the boxing world right now, it's probably coming from HBO's newest card, scheduled for March 7. In the main event, there should be thunder aplenty when James Kirkland faces Joel Julio in what could be a stunning battle between young punchers.

Julio (34-2, 31 KO) is without any question the toughest test yet for Kirkland (24-0, 21 KO), who has become a hot rising star thanks in large part to HBO wins over Eromosele Albert and Brian Vera. Neither of those fighters brings the power that Julio does, however.

Cameron Dunkin, manager for Kirkland, admits readily that this is a dangerous fight. Frankly, if I'm part of Team Kirkland, I hate this fight for my guy. But I would also admire the guts he's displaying by taking such a risky matchup. Too many fighters, in my view, are coddled for too long these days. Danny Jacobs, I've said before, has nothing more to learn about boxing or about himself by smashing more bums. Kirkland has nothing more to learn fighting club fighters like Vera. Sure, Vera stood up to him well, but he was never a serious threat to Kirkland.

Julio is a serious threat. The young man can throw down. His two losses have come against crafty southpaws Carlos Quintana and Sergei Dzinziruk, the latter a fight most guys in his position wouldn't have taken, but he's another guy who's shown the balls to take tough fights, and has probably learned something in defeat.

In short, I love this fight, I love HBO for making it, and I respect the hell out of both fighters for taking it on. Kudos all around.

The co-feature that night will pit Golden Boy's new golden child, Victor Ortiz, against veteran Vivian Harris is a nice step-up fight for Ortiz. It's also a battle of dudes whose nickname is "Vicious."

Little has been heard or seen of Harris (29-3-1, 19 KO) since his September 2007 loss to Junior Witter, a fight where Witter flat-out kicked Harris' ass around the ring. He took 13 months off before returning to the ring last October, fighting at a Medieval Times in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

But if he knocks off Ortiz (23-1-1, 18 KO), then he's right back in the mix at 140. A win for Ortiz, on the other hand, means Victor now has a real Quality Win on his record, and that's generally enough to land a sanctioning body title shot.

I like this fight, too, to be honest. I figure Ortiz has a fairly easy time with Harris, but Vivian has to know this is damn close to a last shot opportunity. He's 30 years old and seems far removed from his run as WBA junior welterweight titlist.

Golden Boy is also trying to get HBO to make the March 7 card a tripleheader with Robert Guerrero in another bout. Guerrero returns after a long absence on the off-TV undercard of Margarito-Mosley on Jan. 17, and would likely be ready to fight again by March 7 barring any injury.

The other fight HBO reportedly has locked up is the long-rumored April 4 showdown between 122-pound titlist Juan Manuel Lopez (24-0, 22 KO) and 118-pound titleholder Gerry Penalosa (53-6-2, 36 KO).

Penalosa, at 36, may not seem at first glance to be a great challenge for Lopez, and with the explosive way that Juanma fights, he might wind up not being a great challenge. But even though he's advanced in age, Penalosa is still one tough cookie with a lot of skills. The fight will take place in Puerto Rico, Lopez's home country, and I hope they find a decent co-feature for the show. WBO featherweight titlist Steven Luevano has been mentioned for that date, and I doubt they could convince him to face Mario Santiago in a rematch in Santiago's country, but hey, it's worth a shot. Ask Luevano if he'd rather not fight on TV at all.

The Lopez-Penalosa card will essentially go head-to-head with Showtime's offering of a 140-pound title unification between Timothy Bradley and Kendall Holt. I've complained about these things before -- we all have. Once last year a Showtime rep talked to me about how they run the first Saturday of the month and HBO is really counter-programming them and not the other way around, and while I see his point...Showtime doesn't really run the first Saturday of the month every month. I've more come to accept that it's a reality we have to deal with now and then. There are only so many Saturdays.