Carl Froch can’t remember his dramatic and celebrated victory over Jermain Taylor.

Much of his reputation as one of Britain’s finest ever fighters was built on the way that on that night in 2009 he recovered from a third-round knockdown to so dramatically stop the respected Taylor in the 12th and final round.

His victory that night at Foxwoods Resort, Mashantucket – also the occasion of his first fight in the US – provided the platform for his admirable run to the final of the Super Six, which in turn contributed to his induction in 2023 into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, but the knockdown he suffered that night means that it has become a “blur”.

“Unfortunately I’ve not got my memory back from that night,” the 46 year old said as the guest of honour at a lunch hosted by the Boxing Writers’ Club. “That round-three knockdown left me quite heavily concussed and it meant when I watched it back – it was shown delayed on the Sunday…

“Mike Costello was out there commentating for BBC 5Live. It’s some of the best commentary I’ve ever listened to. I don’t listen to many radio commentaries, but I’ve since gone back and listened to a few. 

“That night, against Jermaine Taylor, climbing off the canvas in round three – I finished the fight quite strong. From round eight; nine, I started to get to him. I was clipping him with quite a few shots and backing him up; he was a bit wobbly; shaky on his feet. [But] I couldn’t get him out of there. 

“Going back to my corner Rob McCracken was like, ‘Keep backing him up; keep backing him up and when he comes at you, go back at him’. In my head I was, ‘I gotta keep backing him up’. He never told me to go out there and stop him; ‘You need a knockout’. I didn’t even know it was the last round.

“From what I can remember, I didn’t think ‘This is the last round; I’m going all out’. It’s just all a blur. When I look back at the videos, I literally can’t remember anything. I can’t remember celebrating. My brother [Lee] jumped in after; my wife Rachael was there. 

“I just can’t remember anything. It’s gone. Hopefully it might come back later on in life.”

“You have to do something special now, Carl,” Froch’s trainer Rob McCracken had shouted to him as the super middleweight went out for the final round. The referee Michael Ortega ultimately rescued Taylor on his feet. 

“Going out in the last round – round 12 – I was just on autopilot; just doing what I do,” Froch continued. “All of the hard work and commitment and dedication before the fight – all of the hard training. That’s what gets you through that. You’re just drawing on experience. 

“But I’d only had one world-title fight – Jean Pascal. Won that and I was straight in the deep end.”