MASHANTUCKET, Conn. — Super middleweight champion Carl Froch delivered a stunning knockout of Jermain Taylor in the final round Saturday night, stealing a fight he would have lost had it been allowed to go a few seconds longer.

The WBC champion trailed 106-102 on two of the judges' scorecards entering the final round, but he knocked Taylor down with less than a minute remaining. Froch then battered Taylor against the ropes until referee Michael Ortega stopped the fight with 14 seconds left.

"He was hurt badly," Froch said. "It was a great decision by the referee."

Taylor, unable to defend himself, didn't dispute the stoppage.

"If there was 14 seconds left or one second left it made no difference, he was defenseless," Ortega said. "I wanted him to be able to go home safely to his family."

Froch (25-0, 20 KOs), part of a recent wave of British fighters making names for themselves in the United States, was making the first defense of the title he won with a brutal unanimous decision over Jean Pascal last December.

Afterward, Froch called out retired former super middleweight and light heavyweight champion Joe Calzaghe — even though the Pride of Wales has expressed no interest in returning to the ring. Froch also offered to give Taylor a rematch.

"Does Jermain Taylor deserve a rematch?" Froch said. "Absolutely he does."

"Yeah," Taylor added, "I'd like a rematch."

The loss was the third in the last four fights for Taylor, the first under similar circumstances to Kelly Pavlik in 2007. Taylor knocked Pavlik down early and was leading the fight when he got trapped against the ropes and was stopped in the seventh round.

"My hat's off to Carl Froch," Taylor said. "He came over here and stuck it out for 12 rounds."

Froch didn't look impressive early in the fight, getting knocked down for the first time in his career when Taylor (28-3-1) landed an overhand right in the third round. Carrying his left hand low, Froch struggled to cover up when the quicker Taylor ducked inside to throw a punch, and the bridge of his nose turned red from the blows.

Taylor was still delivering a beating at the end of the eighth round, hitting Froch with a series of combinations. When the round ended, the former unified middleweight champion raised his fist triumphantly and glared across the ring at Froch.

Froch nearly went down again in a wild 11th round, staggering back to his corner, where his team told him that he was well behind on the scorecards and needed — at the very least — to knock Taylor down in the final round.

"When I fight my next fight in America, I need to start quicker," Froch said. "Neverthless, I'm still the champion."