GLASGOW, Scotland – As always at this time of the year in Scotland, the weather has been pretty awful. And tonight, so was the scoring.

In an all-southpaw matchup, Josh Taylor retained his Ring Magazine, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO junior welterweight titles by posting a 12-round split decision over Jack Catterall at The Hydro on Saturday. The fighters split two 113-112 cards, which was followed by an inexplicable 114-111 tally for the champion. The Ring scored 115-111 for Catterall.

Taylor, who came in at No. 5 on The Ring’s pound for pound list, looked nothing like the fighter who had decimated the 140-pound division. He was floored for the first time in his career in Round 8, and despite a gallant effort, the Scotsman came off second best in many of the exchanges. Given the fact that he’d never competed at this level, Catterall’s performance was nothing short of incredible.

“It was far from my best performance, but we got the right result,” said Taylor (19-0, 13 knockouts) during the post-fight press conference. “The right man won the fight, but because he did better than people thought, they’re saying he won the fight. He didn’t win the fight.”

Despite raucous noise and an intimidating partisan crowd, Catterall was not one bit unnerved. He found his distance immediately, scored very well with an accurate right jab and landed one memorable left hand. The Englishman kept up the stick in the second, and again Taylor caught the left hand to the head.

Taylor made an obvious move to take the action to mid-range and appeared to have more success at that distance. He was far from his vintage best, but Catterall lost some accuracy and the champion outworked him up close. There was rough stuff on the inside and both fighters were admonished by referee Marcus McDonnell.

The challenger fought brilliantly in the fifth, nailing the Scotsman with sharp combinations that reddened and cut the area under Taylor’s right eye. It was more of the same in the sixth and the home crowd were being given very little reason to cheer.

Taylor got off some good work in the seventh but nothing resembling a foothold. Catterall was smothering so much of the Scot’s vaunted inside work and he was also matching the champion for strength.

It was punches that made the difference in Round 8 when Catterall nailed Taylor with a couple of heavy single shots and a follow up combination decked the Edinburgh man at centre ring. Taylor got up, swore in frustration and went back to work, but it was all uphill now.

Catterall (26-1, 13 KOs) was deducted a point in the 10th for holding and McDonnell’s intervention for that infringement was very late. That moment helped Taylor to a degree in terms of points, but when the Scot lashed out at Catterall at the end of the 11th, McDonnell evened up the point deductions by deducting a point from his score.

The champion needed a knockout on this reporter’s card, but despite battling gamely until the final bell, he couldn’t put a serious dent in Catterall.

“This will be my last fight at 140 pounds,” stated Taylor, who will now move up to welterweight.

Given the fact that three of the belts are tied up with the Errol Spence-Yordenis Ugas unification, and with a Terence Crawford fight now tough to make politically, the Scot is unsure about what path he will take at 147. He told The Ring that he would consider a rematch with Catterall at that weight.

Photo by Lawrence Lustig

In another all-southpaw matchup, two-time Olympic champion Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba scored a routine third-round stoppage of Ireland’s Eric Donovan at featherweight. The official time was 1:04.

After a slow start, consisting mainly of some jab reconnaissance, Ramirez broke through with a sharp left hand counterpunch that produced a knockdown. Donovan wasn’t badly hurt, but the moment sent a clear message.

Levels!

Donovan let his hands go more in the second and was actually very competitive, but his problems were compounded when Ramirez opened up a cut around his right eye.

There was always the pending sense of doom that something big was coming the Irishman’s way and so it became early in the third. When Donovan scored with a nice combination, Ramirez responded angrily with a furious two-fisted burst that robbed him of his equilibrium. Referee Victor Loughlin’s stoppage was perhaps a touch early, but Donovan was way out of his depth.

The 28-year-old Ramirez (9-1, 4 KOs) dropped a split decision to Adan Gonzales in his pro debut. He avenged that setback and could be developed into something special.

Donovan, 36, drops to 14-2 (8 KOs).

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