Josh Taylor has his hand raised by referee Marcus McDonnell, much to the shock of everyone at ringside
(Picture: Action Images via Reuters)Promoter Ben Shalom has called for an immediate inquest after Josh Taylor was awarded a massively controversial split-decision win over Jack Catterall in Saturday’s undisputed super-lightweight title fight.
Taylor held on to all the marbles in the 10st division despite an off-colour display on his return to Glasgow, with fans, ex-boxers, commentators and others at ringside seemingly all convinced that his opponent had done enough to produce a colossal upset at the OVO Hydro.
Judge Howard Foster did score the bout 113-112 in Catterall’s favour, but the other two cards on the night backed the champion, 114-111 (Ian John-Lewis) and 113-112 (Victor Loughlin).
It was a decision that provoked much anger and shock among the boxing fraternity, with Catterall’s coach Jamie Moore calling it “disgusting” after his “heartbroken” fighter had stormed backstage.
Among the strongest critics of the result was BOXXER promoter Shalom, who called it “embarrassing” and could not contain his anger.
“I was worried they might call a draw and stop Jack having this historic night,” he told Sky Sports. “But the way that this has gone, I’m in shock right now. I’m shellshocked.
“There has to be an inquest, because I’ve seen this on other promoters’ shows and I’ve sort of maybe laid the blame with them or not understood what’s gone on. But this is embarrassing and if there’s not an inquest it’s going to harm the sport.
"Nothing to show from the best performance of his life'
— BOXXER (@boxxer) February 26, 2022
How did you score @JoshTaylorBoxer vs @jack_catt93?#TaylorCatterall | TONIGHT | @skysportsboxing | @trboxing pic.twitter.com/wM9gS6O9xn
“We are going to do everything we can because I’m not just embarrassed, I’m really angry.
“How many times do we have to be here before something is done? The fact is, I was stood there and worried it might happen, which says a lot. And it did.”
