Josh Taylor was crushed in gorgeous vogue on house soil by a rampant Ekow Essuman.
Taylor was returning house to Scotland for the primary time since his controversial victory over Jack Catterall in 2022.
And he was making his comeback for the primary time since dropping to Catterall of their sequel final yr.
‘The Tartan Twister’ stepped out in entrance of a partisan house crowd on the OVO Area in Glasgow, the place he took on welterweight contender Essuman.
Taylor began the opening rounds of the battle the extra dominant fighter, wanting crisp and improved on the greater welterweight restrict.
However Essuman got here on stronger and stronger because the battle progressed, an actual trademark of his boxing pedigree, and it appeared he had accomplished sufficient to get the choice on away soil.
And he scored a properly deserved win on the judges’ scorecards, taking the victory by unanimous determination.
The tallies learn at 116-113, 115-113 and 116-112 in Essuman’s favour as he triggered an enormous shock in a career-best victory.
It was a dangerous blow for Taylor, who will now want a drastic rebuild to return to the heights of world stage, the place he plied his commerce for therefore a few years.
Taylor misplaced for the primary time on Scottish soil in his profession, having received his ten fights beforehand in his house nation.
And now boxing followers have known as for the 34-year-old to name time in his profession, along with his sensational achievements nonetheless in tact.
Taylor was met by a wall of noise, as his homecoming walk-on despatched the gang right into a frenzy, with Essuman trying to spoil the occasion.
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The Scotsman seemed to start out at a stable early tempo with issues catching mild early on, as he began boxing with actual rhythm in centre ring.
Essuman struggled to deal with the pace Taylor produced when stepping out and in of vary, as the house favorite impressed, wanting sharp and agile early on at 147lbs.
However the underdog began to land in flurries within the third spherical, reminding Taylor he was nonetheless there and recreation along with his elevated output.
The pair started exchanging within the fourth and fifth rounds, the forwards and backwards humdinger gripping followers’ consideration within the enviornment.
Because the fightreached the halfway, Taylor began to fatigue regardless of being far brighter within the opening levels of the competition with Essuman in cost.
By spherical eight, Essuman began to come back on extraordinarily sturdy and land some massive photographs of his personal.
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He actually turned the screw and Taylor seemed drained and out of concepts, because the strain ramped up on him.
‘The Engine’ actually lived as much as his moniker within the ninth, exhibiting some actual cardio and depth because the pendulum swung in his favour because the clock ticked into the ultimate stanzas.
Many scorecards from the boxing fraternity started to tighten with Taylor being outworked because the concluding spherical approached.
Taylor was lower with blood pouring from his face as the ultimate bell sounded from an intriguing night time.
And sadly it wasn’t to be for Taylor, who was left dejected as Essuman was despatched into delirium subsequent to him.
It’s a powerful defeat to take for the Scotsman who now has a giant determination to make over his future.
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However for the victor, a possible path to a world title at 147lbs seems to have started to map out, with many critically impressed along with his aggressive efficiency.