JEFF POWELL: In his darkest of hours Josh Taylor was humility itself as he congratulated Lopez
JEFF POWELL: In his darkest hours, Josh Taylor was humility itself as he congratulated Teofimo Lopez on his ‘incredible’ performance at Madison Square Garden
- Teofimo Lopez dominated Josh Taylor at Madison Square Garden on Saturday
- Taylor showed signs of ring rust in New York after being gone for 15 months
- Lopez clinched the Scot’s undefeated record with a unanimous points win
The reborn darling of Madison Square Garden’s boxing cathedral had vowed to kill Josh Taylor in the ring.
Teofimo Lopez instead settled for shrinking the Tartan Tornado down to a feather zephyr. Established for being faster than the fastest punch pendulum in the East of Scotland. Settled to end Taylor’s long reign of the light welterweight division.
Taylor, 32, was out-boxed, out-punched, out-thinking and repeatedly chased to the abyss of unconsciousness.
Whether he can regain his footing, poise, poise and faith enough to reclaim one of his 140-pound titles will take him time to think.
As for his dream of being part of the pantheon of two-division world champions, it looks as broken as his heart. But in these darkest hours, Taylor was humility itself. He turned to Lopez and said, “You were incredible. Brilliant.’
Josh Taylor was merciful in defeat, but never looked close to winning over his opponent
Lopez, who cannot help deluding himself at the expense of those less extravagantly gifted, at least praised the defiant courage that somehow carried Taylor to the final bell through fog more blinding than the smoke that turned the New York skyline orange over the weekend.
Amazingly, this was the New York-born son of Honduran descent who had turned to his corner after struggling to win his previous fight and asked, “Do I still have it?” Oh yes, he does.
Teofimo Lopez celebrates with his belts after dominating Josh Taylor at MSG on Saturday
The pair of goons scoring just 115-113 for Lopez not only added to boxing’s growing desperation over the eccentric marking of big fights, but also did the victor a gross injustice. The third judge had better eyesight to see it 117-111.
I couldn’t give Taylor more than three rounds out of 12. And one of them was a piece. Where he goes from here needs careful consideration.