Both Scotland and England played host to significant main events today. On the Scottish card, rising local super prospect Josh Taylor yet again picked up the biggest win of his career with a ninth round body shot stoppage of former lightweight titleholder Miguel Vasquez while Liam Smith got a majority decision over Liam Williams in England.
Liam Smith (26-1-1, 14 KOs) got revenge for the controversy surrounding his win over Liam Williams (16-2-1, 11 KOs) back in April. Williams was leading that original fight before being stopped on a cut late. This fight was never quite the exciting contest that the first fight ended up becoming, but it was a solid boxing match nonetheless.
The fight was mostly fought at range with Williams doing the sharper work upstairs while Smith found success with his jab and body work. Personally, I actually scored this one 115-113 for Williams, but I don’t have a problem with Smith winning even by the 117-111 he got. All the rounds were close and similar. If a judge preferred his style over the course of the fight then so be it. Boxing scoring is more subjective than we like to acknowledge.
This was a WBO eliminator as well. Assuming current titleholder Miguel Cotto holds to his word and retires after his December bout, Liam Smith will likely fight for their vacant belt next.
What was not subjective was Josh Taylor’s (11-0, 10 KO) hook that put Miguel Vasquez (39-5, 15 KOs) down to a knee for the full count. The Scottish super prospect yet again impressed on another big stage. Vasquez is a super tricky fighter and someone who it has been impossible to look good against even when defeating him.
While the Mexican former lightweight belt holder did have some success early and did seem to trouble Taylor a bit in the first four rounds or so, the young pro was still winning the rounds despite a cut that was opened early over his eye from an accidental clash of heads. Taylor found his momentum behind some strong lefts upstairs in the fifth round and really took over with his body work from there. As his momentum intensified, Vasquez continued to wilt behind the pressure until we heard ten and the fight was over. Josh Taylor is very much for real.
