Josh Taylor Survives in Scotland

Josh Taylor Survives in Scotland

It was complicated.

Scotland’s Josh Taylor managed to escape with the undisputed super lightweight world championship by split decision over Jack Catterall despite the southpaw versus southpaw oddity, over-officiating and immense pressure of fighting at home on Saturday.

“I put on a bit of pressure on myself fighting in front of my home,” said Taylor

Pressure almost broke Taylor’s (19-0, 13 KOs) grip on the WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF super lightweight titles against Great Britain’s Catterall (26-1) in front of a sold-out crowd at Glasgow, Scotland. It was a razor-close fight that was marred by referee deductions.

Taylor looked dead serious in facing fellow southpaw Catterall. And as boxing experts know, whenever a southpaw fights another southpaw strange things can happen. Lefties are not accustomed to fighting other lefties and it showed.

From the opening bell Catterall proved he could land the left cross and did it repeatedly throughout the fight. The very first blow fired landed from Catterall and it was a left cross. Taylor took half of the fight to adjust.

Catterall, the number one mandatory, had waited for more than a year to get the fight with Taylor and accepted step-aside money to allow the Scottish fighter to meet with Jose Carlos Ramirez last year. It turned out to be a solid move.

The much taller Taylor suffered through a leg injury, Covid-19, and weight problems and it might have been too much for the undisputed super lightweight champion to overcome. Almost.

In the first half of the fight, it was Taylor barging in and Catterall grabbing whenever the champion got close. As Taylor became frustrated, he dropped his guard and was caught bending over with an overhand left and knocked down for the first time in his career. He beat the count in the eighth round.

That knockdown seemed to spark anger in Taylor and from that point on he became more aggressive.

“I started a little slow. I caught him with the bigger shots. He caught me with a couple of good shots,” said Taylor. “It wasn’t my best performance.”

Pressure of fighting in front of his hometown fans as the celebrated undisputed super lightweight world champion also put a heavy burden on Taylor. He survived.

In the 10^th round as Taylor became more aggressive Catterall grabbed his head and kept it down. Referee Marcus McDonnell deducted a point from Catterall after repeatedly warning the British fighter throughout the match.

Things seemed to swing fully toward Taylor but after a good display in the 11^th round, as the bell rang Taylor nudged Catterall’s abdomen with a light blow and the British fighter replied with a swing as he walked away. The referee took Taylor’s hand and announced he was deducting a point from the champion for that light nudge.

In the 12^th round both tried to impose dominance but neither was particularly successful. Jabs and a right uppercut connected for Taylor and a three-punch combination was fired by Catterall. After 12 rounds and point deductions the fight ended in a split decision victory for Taylor 112-113, 113-112, 114-111. Taylor retains all four belts but also announced he will no longer be participating at the 140-pound limit.

“He did a hell of a lot of holding but I still won the fight,” said Taylor. “Being the first time at home, I put on a bit of pressure on myself.”

Taylor had battled his way to the undisputed super lightweight world championship with riveting wins over world titlists Jose Carlos Ramirez, Regis Prograis and former champion Viktor Postol. It was a murderer’s row and the tall Scottish southpaw earned hard-fought victories over all of them. Nothing came easy.

“It wasn’t my best performance,” Taylor said. “But altogether I was putting in the better shots. He never won the fight.”

Now the welterweights await the fighter known as the Tartan Tornado.

Cuba’s Ramirez

Cuban prospect Robeisy Ramirez (9-1, 5 KOs) floored Ireland’s Eric Donovan (14-2) in the first round and then knocked him out in the third with a vicious left to the ear. It was a battle between featherweight southpaws but immediately it was evident that Ramirez was the more gifted fighter when he knocked down Donovan with a counter left in the opening frame.

Ramirez allowed Donovan to stick around and though the Irish fighter opened up with several combinations in the third, Ramirez suddenly decided to end the fight and fired off a left to the head and another left that sent the Irish fighter staggering along the ropes and down to the mat. The referee called off the fight at 1:04 of the third round to give the win to Ramirez by technical knockout.

Scottish Title

Nick “Glasgow Warrior” Campbell (5-0, 5 KOs) won the first Scottish heavyweight title in more than 70 years by technical knockout over lime-haired Jay “Ghost” McFarlane (12-6, 6 KOs) in an entertaining scrap that got better after every round until it ended.

Campbell had four inches in height advantage and McFarlane had 20 pounds of extra girth, but despite the pawing and mud slow flow of the first three rounds, it suddenly got exciting. McFarlane used a jab and an overhand right to add that excitement and found a left to the body that changed the complexion of the fight.

Though McFarlane was able to hurt Campbell, it seemed to sap the energy from his heavier body and that spelled the end.

Campbell opened up the seventh round with a nine-punch combination that had McFarlane’s head snapping back over and over. A right cross sent McFarlane down for the count but he got up. After that Campbell jumped after the shorter fighter and connected with another barrage of blows until the referee stopped the fight at 2:18 of the seventh round. Campbell becomes the Scottish heavyweight champion.

Other Bouts

Irish welterweight Paddy Donovan (8-0, 6 KOs) swept past Miroslav Serban (13-9) and eventually won by stoppage in the final round. Donovan, a slick southpaw trained by former world champion Andy Lee, ripped uppercuts through the tight guard by Serban and opened up a cut on the left ear of the Czech fighter. The referee stopped the fight due to a cut at 56 seconds of the sixth and final round.

In the opening televised bout John Docherty (12-1, 9 KO) returned to the boxing ring a week after a previous fight and knocked out fellow Scot Jordan Grant (4-2) in the second round. A counter left to the solar plexus and left to the temple floored Grant for the count at 2:49 of the second round in the light heavyweight match.

A women’s super bantamweight fight ended in a draw between favorite Ebonie Jones (1-0-1) and Effy Kathapouli (4-3-1) after six rounds. Jones started out quick in the first round with her low crouching style and was effective with the left hook. But in the second round Kathapouli increased the tempo and became more accurate with her punches and won the next two rounds. It was back and forth after that with the referee judging the fight a draw 57-57.

“I think I nicked it,” said Jones. “She was tough.”

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank via Getty Images

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