Scottish former undisputed 140-pound champion Josh Taylor suffered a surprising loss to Ekow Essuman on the cards after a hard-fought 12-round battle that drained both fighters. Fighting in his home country of Scotland at the SSE Hydro Arena on May 24, a continuation of Taylor’s career now hangs in the balance after his attempt to settle in the welterweight division didn’t pan out as planned. The headlining fight further marked Taylor making his Queensberry Promotions debut.
Josh Taylor vs. Ekow Essuman (vacant WBO global welterweight title)
Best known for his stint as the undisputed super lightweight (140 lbs), Josh Taylor’s (19-3, 13 KO’s) career appears to be on the decline after British contender Ekow Essuman (22-1, 8 KO’s) ― a known contender at welterweight (147 lbs) yet not thoroughly distinguished ― defeated the Scottish fighter in a competitive fight.
The loss marks Taylor’s second defeat in a row after last year’s defeat to Jack Catterall.
Pitted against an opponent more familiar to the 147-pound division, Taylor’s pedigree and experience was expected to net him the win, but Essuman’s durability and determination prevented Taylor from netting a win.
Likely set to haunt Taylor over the upcoming weeks is the fact he appeared to clearly win the first half of the fight, appearing like a renewed self as he hit on the gas pedal and began pressuring Essuman to the best of his ability. Lacking solid defensive fundamentals, Essuman struggled largely with the pressure but mostly lost in the roughhousing between the two as they regularly clinched with each other.
Aside from Essuman’s toughness, it was his grit that appeared to determine the end result most of all. Taylor’s pressure seemed successful only in spurts, allowing Essuman to arguably win more rounds of the first half than necessary as his own counter-pressure tactics gradually made Taylor become more careful.
The second half of the fight saw Essuman take mild control of the match as Taylor’s workrate declined. Essuman’s tenacity posed too many issues for Taylor as the British fighters’ punch output almost dramatically increased after he arguably appeared down on the scorecards. Now faced against a reinvigorated opponent while his own stamina seemed to dwindle, Josh Taylor steadily lost rounds in the latter half of the fight ― especially as a cut that Taylor suffered tilted the rounds more towards Essuman.
Ultimately, it was this comeback by Essuman that led to all three judges scoring the fight in his favor with scores of 116-112, 116-113, and 115-113, further culminating in Essuman winning the vacant WBO global title.
Despite the defeat, the competitiveness of the fight suggests Josh Taylor still can commence with his career with aspirations for a title, however, with him having failed to beat an opponent he should have beat at welterweight and the 140-pound division likely too small for him, Taylor appears at a crossroads to either improve and adjust rapidly, or let go of any ambitions to become a world champion again.
Undercard Fights:
The most prominent match on the Queensberry Promotions card was the heavyweight (200+ lbs) between one of the youngest contenders around, British fighter Moses Itauma (12-0, 10 KO’s) and American veteran Mike Balogun (21-2, 16 KO’s).
Balogun, 41, was notably a former NFL player that carved a career in boxing after entering the pro ranks in 2014. With an almost 11-year career on hand, the 20-year old Moses Itauma faced a solid yet undaunting challenge given Balogun’s lack of amateur boxing career and his age.
Proving to be one of the quick-rising prospects of the sport, Itauma swiftly impressed with a knockdown over Itauma in the 1st round, before knocking him down twice in the 2nd round before the match was stopped by the referee, allowing Itauma to claim an easy and expected technical knockout (TKO) victory.
