UNDISPUTED world boxing champion Josh Taylor has admitted that the weeks following his controversial win over Jack Catterall have been a whole new experience for him.
Many disagreed with the judges’ decision to award the win to the Prestonpans man, while the Speaker of the House of Commons even sent a letter to the police regarding the contentious scoring of the bout.
Taylor, 31, said that the abuse he and members of his family had had directed at them had been unlike anything he had known.
“It’s been farcical,” Taylor says.
“Come on, it’s a boxing match – implying there’s something criminal going on, that just looks bad on boxing.
“I thought [reporting it to the police] was a joke. The fallout has been crazy and I’ve never seen anything like it.
“The abuse Danielle [Murphy, Taylor’s fiancée] and my wee sister have had, it’s crazy. It doesn’t bother me getting it but when you see it affecting your family, it’s tough. When you see them getting personal attacks about their appearance and threats of violence, it’s really hard to take.”
Taylor admitted he was disappointed about his performance but was adamant in his belief that he won the bout and deserved to retain his unbeaten record.
“It was my poorest performance since the 2014 Commonwealth Games. I think I had a little bit of a lack of motivation for the fight because I had other goals and other things I wanted to do,” he said. “But to be the champion, it has to be convincing and it wasn’t.
“He should have had two or three points taken off him, never mind one point. He had me in head locks, pulling my legs like it was UFC. I thought I was in a wrestling match at times.
“If it had been the other way around and I had been the challenger, nothing would have been said. I think the backlash was because it was such a high-profile fight, for all the belts and that’d never been done before in the UK.
“Also, he did better than anyone expected so fair play to Jack – he did really well but I don’t think he won.”
On his next steps, Taylor added: “I’d like to fight in Scotland again, and then in America again and take a travelling support with me, which I never got to do last time which was a big kick in the teeth. I’ll speak to everyone about it but then I’ll make the final decision.”
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