Former two-weight champion Timothy Bradley aired his views on why Josh Taylor lost so severely to Jack Catterall in their undisputed clash.
The ESPN analyst broke down the fight piece by piece and believed Catterall defeated Taylor handily in every way imaginable.
In his most recent ESPN column, Bradley commended Catterall for the perfect game plan that should have been enough to take all the belts.
Bradley also debunked those who see moving forward without landing punches as effective for scoring points.
“Aggression without effectiveness doesn’t mean much. Effective aggression is when you’re moving forward and actually impact the other fighter to the extent that you’re able to dominate,” pointed out Bradley.
“At no point in this fight was Taylor able to dominate or control the action. Every time Taylor would get Catterall to the ropes, he’d maybe land one shot. Then Catterall would tie up and not allow the work. This was a great game plan.”
Continuing on calls that close rounds mean a case for both fighters to win, Bradley said: It’s a common assumption in the sport that when it’s a close round, judges just default and give it to the champion. This can’t be the case.
“There was not one moment during the fight where Taylor actually hurt Catterall. Not only did Catterall outbox Taylor in his hometown, but Catterall hurt Taylor several times during the course of the fight. He dropped him in Round 8.
“Even on the back end of the fight, when Catterall was backing up, Taylor wasn’t doing much work. Catterall was still landing effective, clean punches when Taylor was moving forward.”
TIMOTHY BRADLEY
In conclusion, ‘Desert Storm’ is in no doubt about the contest’s winner despite three ringside judges failing to do their job correctly.
“Catterall won this fight by the eye test and by the numbers. Looking at the fight as a whole, minute by minute in each round, you will see who lands the cleaner, more effective punches.
“The CompuBox stats tell the same story: Catterall landed the most punches. He landed the most jabs and the most power punches.
“The only category Catterall didn’t have the edge in was body shots, because Taylor was digging into the body.
“He did have some success in doing so, but it simply wasn’t enough.”
A rematch between the pair will not occur as Taylor has already signaled his intention to move up in weight.
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