Josh Taylor retained the WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF junior welterweight belts on a disputed 12 round split decision against Jack Catterall the WBO mandatory challenger, on Saturday night at the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland.
The scores were 114-111, 113-112 Taylor and 113-112 for Catterall.
In a poor fight Taylor 19-0; 13 was out fought through the first eight rounds by Catterall 26-1; 13.
Taylor was knocked down in the eighth round but as Catterall began to tire he was deducted a point for holding in the tenth round and Taylor was also deducted a point in round eleven for tapping after the bell.
The punch stats showed that the challenger had the edge.
UNDERCARD
In a featherweight bout Robeisy Ramirez 9-1; 5 won on a third-round knockout over Eric Donovan 14-2; 8. The time was 1:04.
Heavyweight Nick Campbell 5-0; 5 stopped Jay McFarlane 12-6; 5 in the seventh round to win the vacant Scotland title. Time was 2:18.
FERNANDO MARTINEZ WINS IBF JUNIOR BANTAM BELT
In a closely fought encounter Fernando “Puma” Martinez 14-0; 8 outscored the champion Jerwin Ancajas 32-2-2; 22 to win the IBF junior bantamweight belt on Saturday night at the Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
The scores were 118-110 twice and 117-111.
Martinez outworked the champion who was making his tenth defence.
On the same card WBA, No 5 featherweight Hector Garcia 15-0; 10 moved up to junior lightweight and outpointed WBA No 1 rated Chris “Primetime” Colbert 16-1; 6 over twelve rounds in WBA title eliminator..
Garcia came in as a late substitute for WBA champion Roger Gutierrez, who withdrew after contracting Covid.
The scores were 119-108 and 118-109 twice.
Junior welterweight Gary Antuanne Russell 15-0; 15 won on a tenth-round technical knockout against the 38-year-old Viktor Postol 31-4; 12.
VETERAN GUILLERMO RIGONDEAUX UPSET BY VINCENT ASTROLABIO
In what was considered an upset bantamweight Vincent Astrolabio 17-3; 12 scored a ten round unanimous points decision against 41-year-old former world champion Cuban, Guillermo Rigondeaux 20-3; 13 on Saturday night in a temporary arena built at the Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, UAE.
Astrolabio won the vacant WBC International title against the southpaw Rigondeaux who was knocked down in the eighth round. The scores were 95-94 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Featherweight prospect Jadier Herrera 6-0; 5 won on a ten round unanimous points decision against Mark John Yap 30-16; 15 to claim WBA Asia title. The scores were 97-92, 98-91 and 99-91.
JIMMY KILRAIN UPSETS FAVOURITE
Middleweight Jimmy Kilrain Kelly 26-2; 10 upset the favourite No 8 WBO rated, 37-year-old Kanat “QazaQ” Islam 28-1; 22 when he scored a ten round majority decision at the Whitesands Events Centre in Plant City, Florida on Friday night to claim the vacant WBO Global title.
The scores were 95-95, 96-94 and 97-93.