British Officials Will Investigate Judging Of Taylor-Catterall

Not surprisingly, with the outcry still going from Saturday night’s controversial split-decision win by Undisputed Jr. Welterweight champ and Scottish hero, Josh Taylor over England’s Jack Catterall, the British Boxing Board of Control will investigate the judging/judges.

First, Taylor squeaked the 12 round win by 113-112 on two cards with the third judge giving the challenger the nod at 114-111. That decision was met with some shock and astonishment, especially with how effective Catterall had been landing throughout the bout, the fact he knocked the champ down in the fight and that Taylor only landed approximately 70 punches for the entire fight.

So, as the London Telegraph reported Sunday night, the BBBoC wants to know more, particularly about judges Ian-John Lewis and Victor Laughlin.

British Boxing Board of Control to investigate Josh Taylor’s controversial win over Jack Catterall | @GarethADaviesDT https://t.co/yzVTk6wGKP

— Telegraph Sport (@TelegraphSport) February 27, 2022

One glaring part was Lewis giving Taylor three of the first four rounds (critical in his one point card), even though Taylor did very little to win more than a single round out of the first four.

General secretary Robert Smith confirmed to the Telegraph the fight would be investigated and admitted he thought Catterall had upset Taylor to become the new champ.

‘We will be looking into it,’ Smith said.

‘There were some very close rounds, it was a very close, very scrappy fight, and I have asked for reports from the judges which we will be studying this week.

‘Our judges are honest people, and scored it as they saw it. I was there, and I thought Catterall ‘pipped it.’”

For his part, the challenger Catterall reacted for the first time post-defeat on social media Sunday. Posting on Instagram:

“You know what hurts the most, it wasn’t for me I done all of this for my family my team my town and country. My baby girl and misses, our future. Today I should of been waking up with all of the belts,” Catterall wrote.

“15 months out the ring, they all wrote me off. Fucked me in every way possible for over two years, finally got the fight. Sacrificed everything to fight one of the top p4p ranked fighters, gave him a lesson. For what. Boxing shame on you. Judges 🖕🏽Dreams stolen 💔 “

Taylor had returned to his home country to defend the WBA/IBF/WBC and WBO World titles against the 14-1 underdog Catterall. However, he got much more than he bargained for from the beginning of the bout.

Catterall controlled the fight throughout scoring with straight lefts and body shots, and he eventually scored the only knock down of the bout. That came with two hard overhand lefts that dropped Taylor onto all fours in the eighth round stunning the crowd.

He seemed at that point to have a significant lead, including on our card, where BFW had Catterall up 5-3 with the knockdown counting for a 10-8 round and a 77-74 advantage.

Taylor did connect with some straight lefts late in the fight, but it was only occasional and it certainly should be questioned that all three judges gave Taylor the decisive 12th round of the fight despite him landing only three punches.

BFW had Catterall winning the final round for a 7-5 advantage on the cards.

The BBBoC should also investigate and question referee Marcus McDonnell and his repeated intervening in the dramatic Taylor-Catterall battle.

Again, as we wrote Saturday night in our recap, McDonnell, who’s worked title fights in the U.K. for two decades, involved himself almost to the point of absurdity in warning the fighters over and over again, for holding, hitting on the break, etc.

He then dramatically and controversially took a point from the challenger Catterall (in a fight he ultimately lost by one point on two cards) in the 10th round for excessive holding.

And, McDonnell continued his involvement by penalizing the champion Taylor for throwing and landing a slight jab to Catterall’s midsection after the bell to end the 11th round.

While it’s understood that officiating in the ring and judging at ringside aren’t easy and are subjective, there should be some accountability for it. And, the British officials are going to at least question those involved about it Saturday night in Glasgow.