ESPN STAR Sports
Oct 18 2009

Abraham knocks out Taylor
Arthur Abraham knocked out Jermain Taylor in the final round of their
Super Six opener in Berlin on Saturday night.

The Armenian, based in Germany and now 31-0, poleaxed Taylor with a
huge right to clinch victory with just six seconds of the bout
remaining.

Taylor had been ahead on the scorecards when also knocked out deep
inside the final minute by Britain’s Carl Froch in his last outing
earlier this year.

But this time the former undisputed middleweight king appeared to be
behind and on the way to defeat when the end came.

It was a picture-perfect straight right from Abraham that closed the
show, landing flush to send Taylor crashing to the canvas.

Jermain, looking to rebuild his reputation after two defeats by Kelly
Pavlik and that loss to Froch, made his usual fast start.

He shaded the first four rounds with the flashier work, jabbing nicely
and boxing from the outside.

But from the fifth onwards the stalking Abraham begin to find his
range, landing with decent body shots and the occasional right hand.

The tide appeared to be turning Arthur’s way, cheered on by a partisan
home crowd.

Taylor’s hopes took another knock in the sixth when he was deducted a
point for repeated low blows.

But he had bigger problems to worry about as Abraham, stepping up to
super-middleweight for the first time, continued to go on the
offensive.

Taylor was in big trouble in the ninth when a cracking straight right
from Abraham right down the pipe wobbled the man from Little Rock,
Arkansas.

He regained his composure as Arthur failed to press home the
advantage, and for a couple of rounds that assault appeared to have
left Abraham weary.

But inside the final session he again went looking for the finish, and
into the final minute had Taylor backpedalling constantly.

Then inside the final 15 seconds he blasted Taylor with a superb right
hand that left the conclusion in no doubt. The bout was waved off
almost as soon as Jermain hit the deck, giving Abraham the perfect
start to his Super Six campaign. He takes three points from the bout –
two for the win and one as a bonus for the knockout.

Taylor meanwhile drops to 28-4-1 and doubts again will be raised about
his ability to prosper at the very highest level.