By Mike Smith: Josh Taylor (13-0, 11 KOs) weighed in at 139.1 pounds for his fight this Saturday night against unbeaten American Ryan Martin (22-0, 12 KOs) for their quarterfinal fight in the World Boxing Super Series light welterweight tournament at The SSE Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.
Martin weighed in slightly heavier at 139.3 lbs. Martin looked good at the weight, and very strong.
Both fighters are approximately the same height. Taylor stands 5’10”, whereas Martin is one inch taller at 5’11”. Taylor normally dwarfs his opponents, but in his only fight of his career where he was the shorter guy against 5’11” Viktor Postol, he struggled badly to beat him. On Saturday, Taylor is going to have to figure out another way to win instead of relying on his size to defeat the bigger, faster, stronger and younger Martin. Taylor will need to win with his talent rather than his size.
Taylor, 27, sees himself as unbeatable in fighting at home in Glasgow. Taylor will have a huge crowd that will be on hand to give him support throughout the contest. This means that for the 5’11” Martin to win the fight, he’s going to need to go the extra yard to win the rounds decisively and not just barely win them.
It would in the best interest of the Abel Sanchez trained Martin to take the judges out of play entirely by knocking out the 2012 Olympian Taylor, but that might be asking a little too much.
“There is no one going to beat me here in Glasgow with these fans behind me,” Scotland’s Taylor said at Friday’s weigh-in. “I am in the best shape of my life. I am ready for Saturday, I can’t wait!”
It’s very difficult to pick a winner in this fight because both guys are facing the best guy that they’ve ever tangled with. Taylor has wins over former world champions Viktor Postol and Miguel Vazquez, but those guys weren’t as young, fast and powerful as Martin. Taylor appeared to barely defeat Postol last June in Glasgow. The judges gave Taylor a wide points win over Postol, but the fight looked to be close enough to be decided by 2 points. Taylor did not impress at all against Postol. A lot of boxing fans believe Martin to be a better fighter than Postol. That means Taylor could lose this fight on Saturday night if the judges score it in a fair manner.
For Taylor and Martin, the guy they need to watch out for in the World Boxing Super Series tournament is Regis Prograis. He looks like the guy to beat in the tournament right now. Ivan Baranchyk could be a problem as well for Taylor and Martin, but Prograis is looking unbeatable at this time.
“I have a lot to prove. Just go in there, do my job, do what I do very well. You going to see a very, very sharp, focused Ryan Martin Saturday night to get the job done,” Martin said to Fighthub.
Taylor is a very good fighter, but not as good as fans think he is. Postol exposed Taylor’s limitations, and Martin might actually beat him. Whether Martin can in a decision in Glasgow on Saturday night on the judges’ scorecards is the big question. If the judges fail to give Martin the win, they’ll be doing Taylor a disservice. Taylor needs to show that he can win based on talent, not on the hometown judging giving him scores that he doesn’t deserve. If there’s a knockout either way in this fight, it would be good for the fans. They don’t need controversy creeping into the World Boxing Super Series and tainting it.
