EKOW Essuman travelled to Glasgow and stunned Josh Taylor, winning a unanimous decision after 12 hard rounds. Known as ‘The Engine’, Essuman battled through a tough start to grind out the win and keep his dream of a world title fight alive.
Judge Zoltan Enyedi scored it 116-112, backed up by Giulio Piras, 115-113, and John Latham, 116-113. Essuman threw 636 punches to Taylor’s 493. The workrate, consistency and accuracy all helped him get over the line as Taylor wilted.
“I’ve come as the B side, come to the lion’s den, thank you to everyone,” said Essuman, who paid his respects to the late Jimmy Gill.
Taylor started strongly, sending a swift message to Essuman, who has never mixed at the levels Josh previously competed in. Taylor’s sharpness with the left hand was noticeable. Essuman remained patient, launching the occasional right hand in return.
Essuman came out firing in the third, tagging the Taylor torso, circling out of harm’s way as best he could. The fourth round went up a notch as Taylor caught Essuman on his heels, landing a left hand. Ekow was rocked momentarily before cracking home with a thudding short right hand to rock Taylor in return.
The ‘Tartan Tornado’ mainly boxed off the back foot in the sixth as Essuman forced the pace. That pace increased in round seven. Taylor appeared to be tiring. Growing facial damage wasn’t helping the Scotsman’s cause.
Referee Bob Williams leaned in to split them up during the ninth as the Nottingham man stuck to his strategy. Taylor gritted his teeth and dug deep like he had done so many times before. He was struggling badly in the 10th, however, as his career hung in the balance.
The head was also hanging, bobbing around as Taylor lay on the ropes like a sitting duck. “Is that registering, Mr Taylor?” boomed Joe McNally in the corner, trying to reignite his man’s fire with a motivational speech. Taylor had lost his snap completely and his shape was not far behind. Essuman had done enough to pick up a deserved win. The judges agreed.
Clearly suffering a prolonged drop in form, Taylor, 19-3 (13 KOs), looked bemused when the scores were read out. Joe McNally’s rueful face told the real story. Sporting the WBO Global welterweight title, Essuman is now 22-1 (8 KOs).
