Ekow Essuman (22-1, 13 KOs) made Josh Taylor (19-3, 13 KOs) look like an old man on Saturday night, beating the tired Scottish warrior by a 12-round unanimous decision in their welterweight contest at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. The scores were 116-113, 116-112, and 115-113.
The fight was close for the first four rounds, but then Essuman pulled away from the fifth round with his pressure and power punching. A tired-looking 34-year-old Taylor was constantly held from round five, resting his weary body, and resembling an octopus with his grappling.
In the championship rounds, Essuman landed beautiful power shots with both hands to the head of the bleeding Taylor, who had suffered a cut in the seventh round over his left eye from clinching. It was all Josh could do to get through the last three, as he was dog-tired and had no fight in him.
The Scottish crowd was deathly quiet because they had no reason to cheer their hero, Taylor. He was getting outworked by the Essuman. Although technically, Essuman, 36, was two years older than Taylor, he appeared like the much younger fighter of the two.
The heavily hyped heavyweight Moses Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) made easy work of journeyman Mike Balogun (21-2, 16 KOs), knocking him out in the second round. Itauma flattened Balogun with a right hook to the head, sending him down flat on his back in the second round. Referee John Latham then waived it off at 0:45 of the round.
This was the second knockdown of the round and the third in the fight. The 20-year-old Itauma had dropped the 36-year-old Balogun with a similar right hand in the first round and the opening seconds of round two. Balogun had some success, bum rushing the short 6’2″ Itauma, catching him with heavy shots, but the 254-lb prospect took them well.
All Results:
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Moses Itauma def. Mike Balogun via second-round TKO
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Reese Lynch def. Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveria via second-round KO
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Aloys Junior def. David Jamieson via third-round KO
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Aston Brown def. Reece Porter via first-round TKO
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Alex Arthur def. Robbie Chapman via points (40-36)
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Drew Limond def. Ezequiel Gregores via points (40-36)
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Luke McCormack def. Samir Cuentas via second-round TKO
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Lee Welsh def. Tony Morton via first-round TKO
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Luke Bibby def. Cesar Ignacio Paredes via points (40-36)