GLASGOW, Scotland – Ekow Essuman scored the win of his career via a narrow decision over the former undisputed junior-welterweight champion Josh Taylor.
Essuman was impressive, courageous, and kept coming, but the mournful Taylor nodded in disagreement with the scorecards at the end.
There was little in it, as represented by the 116-113, 116-112, and 115-113 scorecards. Taylor was seemingly in control early on, but proved unable to sufficiently contain Essuman through the second half of the fight.
“He’s an amazing boxer,” said Essuman. “I’ve been on the B-side. I’ve come into the lion’s den.”
Taylor departed the ring before he could be interviewed, but the crowd was shell-shocked.
The 34 year old from Prestonpans, who has lost his past three, is 19-3 (13 KOs), faces an uncertain future. He had hoped to unveil “Josh Taylor 2.0”, but he had not banked enough early rounds before his jab-and-move tactics descended into jab and grab in his efforts to slow the “Engine”.
Essuman, who fights out of Nottingham but was born in Botswana, is 22-1 (8 KOs), and at 36 years old might have a raft of opportunities ahead of him.
Taylor had exposed some limitations early on, but he couldn’t take advantage of them fully as the fight progressed.
In his familiar tartan trunks, Taylor had made a tidy start, hovering in and out of the danger zone and leading with shots to both the head and body. But Essuman clubbed him with two right hands, only for Taylor to start sweeping forwards and attack with both gloves.
Essuman was posing a threat with his right hand, but Taylor thumped him with a straight left near the end of a lively opening round.
Essuman was made to pay for retreating in a straight line when Taylor greeted the reverse with a straight left in round two, but Essuman – in turn – sent the sweat spraying off Taylor’s head with an arcing right hand.
Taylor, regardless, closed out the round with some super combinations, working up and down as he searched for openings.
He started the third on the front foot, but Essuman managed to crack him with two or three rights in quick succession.
Essuman’s corner urged him not to forget the body in his assaults, and that was something Taylor was being consistent with. Near the end of the third he landed a good left hand, but as he sought to maximise his control in that moment he was caught by a right.
Taylor was up on his toes to open the fourth and boxing nicely. He continued to try to slow the “Engine” by working the body. A long left hand sent Essuman back to the ropes. Essuman, moments later, returned the favor, by sending Taylor dramatically into the ropes with a pair of right hands.
For those looking for signs of Taylor’s decline or demise, they might point to moments like that as evidence, but with a year of rust to shed it was always unlikely to be a flawless effort against a determined trier like Essuman. What was more damning was how Taylor’s pace slowed as the fight wore on.
The referee Bob Williams had little to do throughout, but Essuman needed to do more going into the middle rounds and there were cries from his corner for him to work harder.
Taylor had a quiet sixth, but Essuman was hardly Harry Greb or Manny Pacquiao when it came to volume in that session, either.
But it marked Taylor’s downward spiral, and he never again looked as poised or sharp as he had earlier.
Essuman started the seventh well, even forcing Taylor to the ropes where he worked away with both hands. Taylor still at times made Essuman look clumsy when he attacked, and Taylor was now bleeding from a cut by the side of his left eye – replays on the big screen over the ring indicated it was from a head clash – and Essuman probed the damaged area with further right hands.
Essuman jolted Taylor’s head back with a right that drew a collective gasp from the Scottish crowd in round eight, but Taylor came back into the session and as he walked back to his corner, his trainer Joe McNally nodded his approval.
This, with four rounds left, was the time to see what kind of hunger and ambition Taylor still had and it was why Essuman had been selected for the assignment.
The visitor kept cracking Taylor with right hands, although the “Tartan Tornado” was happy to match him and too stubborn to give any ground.
He just couldn’t match the output, and he also could not stay off Essuman’s right hand often enough.
Taylor was forced to claim his 36-year-old opponent to slow him in the 10th, and the Scot brought a rare roar from the crowd as he worked his left hand. Sweat again splashed off Taylor’s face from a right, but Essuman clipped him with a short left hook near the round’s end, too.
Entering the 11th, it seemed both had a chance of victory, and Essuman was off his stool first, bouncing in ghd center of the ring as he waited for Taylor.
He was treating Taylor’s shots with contempt, staying in the pocket and letting his hands go once Taylor stopped punching. It didn’t look like there would be any shifting him, and Taylor, swelling under the left eye, was forced to hold on several occasions.
Taylor occasionally deployed his double jab, but he was often made to reach or fall-in with the accompanying right hand, often resulting in a clinch.
Before the final round, they touched gloves and there was tension in the air that indicated the fans feared the fight could go either way. They urged Taylor forwards, and did so again with 10 seconds left when the fighters were unable to do little more than attempt to grapple free from one another.
Taylor had been hoping for a new start to his already decorated career. Moving up in weight having won every title at 140lbs, he had scored impressive wins over Viktor Postol, Regis Prograis, Jose Ramirez, and Ivan Baranchyk. Even before then, as he emerged as a threat on the world scene, he’d beaten Ohara Davies to claim his unbeaten record and then toppled the veteran Miguel Vazquez.
There were plenty who feared the fights at a high level would take a cumulative toll. Taylor had recorded dozens of international bouts on his way to the London 2012 Olympics and a Commonwealth Games gold medal. But it was not just physical, the questions were psychological – and surrounded whether he had the desire to climb a different mountain having reached the junior-welterweight pinnacle.
In front of an audience that included Liam Smith, Callum Smith, Martin Bakole, Nathan Heaney, Anto Cacace, Taylor had stormed to the ring to the Faithless classic Insomnia.
A sleepless night will likely follow for the Scot, who will deliberate his future. But he should be able to sleep peacefully, knowing that he will go down as one of the very best fighters his country has produced.