Josh Taylor outboxed, dropped and cut as Catterall and boxing World believes he should have been declared winner

By Boxing News - 02/27/2022 - Comments

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.

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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.

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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.

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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 ringside, TV commentators and then on social media who clearly felt that Catterall was the winner.

Shocked by the result, Catterall immediately left the ring. 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 by saying: “I know I won the fight”.

Image: Josh Taylor outboxed, dropped and cut as Catterall and boxing World believes he should have been declared winner

FULL FIGHT NIGHT RESULTS

12×3 Mins Undisputed World Super-Lightweight Championship

JOSH TAYLOR WSD12 (112-113, 114-111, 113-112) JACK CATTERALL

10×3 Mins Featherweight Contest

ROBEISY RAMIREZ WTKO3 (Time: 1:04) ERIC DONOVAN

10×3 Mins Vacant Scottish Heavyweight Championship

NICK CAMPBELL WTKO7 (Time: 2:18) JAY McFARLANE

8×3 Mins Super-Middleweight Contest

JOHN DOCHERTY WKO2 (Time: 2:49) JORDAN GRANT

6×2 Mins Super-Bantamweight Contest

EBONIE JONES DPTS6 (Time: 57-57) EFFY KATHOPOULI

6×3 Mins Cruiserweight Contest

SCOTT FORREST WTKO2 (Time: 1:08) ERIK NAZARYAN

6×3 Mins Welterweight Contest

PADDY DONOVAN WTKO6 (Time: 0:56) MIROSLAV SERBAN

6×3 Mins Super-Featherweight Contest

MARK McKEOWN WPTS6 (60-53) ENGEL GOMEZ

4×3 Mins Super-Welterweight Contest

KIERAN MOLLOY WTKO2 (Time: 0:33) DAMIAN ESQUISABEL

4×3 Mins Featherweight Contest;02

KURT WALKER WTKO1 (Time: 2:03) JAROSLAV HRIADEL

6×3 Mins Middleweight Contest

BILAL FAWAZ WTKO3 (Time: 3:00) MALAM VARELA