Arthur Abraham v Jermain 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.