Josh Taylor retains undisputed titles via controversial decision

Josh Taylor vs. Jack Catterall Result

OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland – 26 February 2022

Josh Taylor controversially held onto his Undisputed World Super-Lightweight titles against Jack Catterall by split decision last night at the OVO Hydro, Glasgow, in a fight that all of the boxing World felt that the Englishman had clearly won.

Edinburgh’s Taylor was making the historic first defence of his WBO, WBA, IBF and WBC World titles on home soil at sold out OVO Hydro in front of a crowd of over 12,000, while unbeaten Catterall – who had not faced anyone in Taylor’s class – was the underdog going in.

The atmosphere was electric as the home fans turned out for Taylor, but Catterall surprised everyone by outboxing, flooring and then cutting Taylor in the twelve round championship contest and it looked that there was going to be a massive upset on the cards.

The action was messy throughout the fight with a lot of holding and referee Marcus McDonnell had to work hard all night separating and warning the pair, even deducting points from both fighters.

In the opening round, southpaw Catterall got to work quicker landing his stiff jabs and Taylor and was rocked with a big left hand and the Scotsman was already getting frustrated.

In the 3rd, Taylor, also a southpaw, landed a sold hook while Catterall worked away with some sharp combinations.

Taylor looked to force himself on Catterall in the 4th but Catterall landed his own better punches at the end of the round.

Catterall landed a cracking three punch combination in the 5th and Taylor was showing his frustrations as a nasty cut under his right eye opened up.

In the 6th and 7th rounds Catterall was boxing well with his shots getting through and at this stage it was felt that Catterall was ahead on points.

Then in the 8th round the biggest crisis of Taylor’s career saw him floored for the first time from a big left from Catterall and the champion looked in trouble but rose from the count and continued.

The fight got messier from the 9th as they clashed heads and Catterall was holding, the referee then deducted a point from Catterall in the 10th.

Taylor then looked to press the fight in the 11th and end the last two rounds strongly, but Catterall was moving well and jabbing and Taylor was deducted a point for punching after the bell.

The last round saw Taylor landing a good left hand as looked for a final push but it seemed to be too late.

Both fighters raised their hands at the end and now it was down to the judges scorecards. Howard Foster gave it to Catterall 113-112, while Ian John Lewis and Victor Loughlin both gave it to Taylor 114-111 and 113-112 respectively.

Whilst the decision was met with delight from Taylor’s fans in the arena, it led to widespread disbelief by media at rings.

Shocked by the result, Catterall immediately left the ring.

Catterall has now given his reaction for the first time after the fight, revealing that he feels like his dreams have been stolen.

Catterall said: “You know what hurts the most. It wasn’t for me I did all of this for. It was for my family, my team, my town and my country. My baby girl and my missus, our future.

“Today I should have been waking up with all of the belts. I had 15 months out the ring, and they all wrote me off. I was messed about in every way possible for over two years, and then finally for the fight.

“I sacrificed everything to fight one of the top pound-for-pound ranked fighters, and I gave him a lesson, but for what. Boxing shame on you, my dreams have been stolen.”

While Taylor’s record and Unified World titles remain in tact, he acknowledged his performance ‘wasn’t my best’ and still maintained that he won.

Taylor said: “I thought I started slow. Once I got into my rhythm I caught him with the bigger shots. He hit me with some good shots, and I know it was not my best performance.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself as it was my first time fighting here in three years, but I believe I got the win 100%. I wanted to put on a good show, and it meant I have let him have too much success.

“Overall I scored the bigger and better shots and the more meaningful shots, and I knew I won the fight. In the second half of the fight I started taking over, and I got the win.

“I made the weight well but it’s getting harder. That most likely will be my last fight at 140lbs. I left it late to start the preparation of the weight cut after the injury, and it showed a bit in the performance.

“I know I won the fight.”

FULL FIGHT NIGHT RESULTS

12×3 Mins Undisputed World Super-Lightweight Championship

JOSH TAYLOR W SD 12 (112-113, 114-111, 113-112) JACK CATTERALL

10×3 Mins Featherweight Contest

ROBEISY RAMIREZ W TKO 3 (Time: 1:04) ERIC DONOVAN

10×3 Mins Vacant Scottish Heavyweight Championship 

NICK CAMPBELL W TKO 7 (Time: 2:18) JAY McFARLANE

8×3 Mins Super-Middleweight Contest

JOHN DOCHERTY W KO 2 (Time: 2:49) JORDAN GRANT

6×2 Mins Super-Bantamweight Contest

EBONIE JONES D PTS 6 (Time: 57-57) EFFY KATHOPOULI

6×3 Mins Cruiserweight Contest

SCOTT FORREST W TKO 2 (Time: 1:08) ERIK NAZARYAN

6×3 Mins Welterweight Contest

PADDY DONOVAN W TKO 6 (Time: 0:56) MIROSLAV SERBAN

6×3 Mins Super-Featherweight Contest

MARK McKEOWN W PTS 6 (60-53) ENGEL GOMEZ

4×3 Mins Super-Welterweight Contest

KIERAN MOLLOY W TKO 2 (Time: 0:33) DAMIAN ESQUISABEL

4×3 Mins Featherweight Contest

KURT WALKER W TKO 1 (Time: 2:03) JAROSLAV HRIADEL

6×3 Mins Middleweight Contest

BILAL FAWAZ W TKO 3 (Time: 3:00) MALAM VARELA

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