CONAH Walker reaped the rewards of his early endeavour to break down and emphatically knock out Liam Taylor in the seventh round. This was the last chance saloon for Taylor, who found Wolverhampton’s Walker too much of a gunslinger.
The left hook finish at 45 seconds of round seven was a cracker as Walker retained his British welterweight title. Bob Williams was the referee, flanked by three unused judges, Mark Bates, Steve Gray and Kevin Parker.
Liam Taylor employed some of the same tactics Harry Scarff had so much success with when he outboxed Walker for long spells of their January matchup.
Walker found the equaliser in round 11 on that occasion. He didn’t need quite so long to find a big shot here, clocking Taylor at the close of the opening round with a left hook.
Taylor’s uppercut was finding a home on the smaller man’s chin, while Walker got his solid left jab pumping in the second. A low blow, later in the round, afforded Taylor respite.
The respite was brief as Walker piled it on in the third, leaving Taylor with a bloodied nose, potentially broken. Walker’s relentless engine kept rolling forward in the fifth. Taylor was enjoying success, especially with the straight shots, but he was working hard just to keep ‘The Wolf’ at bay.
Taylor’s resolve just ran out in round seven as Walker landed the left-handed bomb to hit 16-3-1 (7 KOs). Middleton’s Taylor is now 28-3-1 (14 KOs).
“I drag them into deep water. Take them to the edge of a cliff and throw them off,” explained Walker.
“Stuck to the game plan, to an extent. It’s the little things I do that people don’t see. I’m on you forever. I don’t let you have a second off. Saudi, Turki, come on, show me the money!”
Eddie Hearn added: “You know when Conah Walker fights, you get value for money.”
