Last Saturday night at the SSE Hydrow in Glasgow, junior welterweight contender Josh Taylor (13-0, 11 KOs) picked up the biggest win of his pro career when he won a tough twelve round unanimous decision over former world champion Viktor Postol - who holds a knockout win over Lucas Matthysse and only tasted defeat at the hands of Terence Crawford.
Most saw the contest as being very close - but there was a lot of controversy when the judges scored it very wide in favor of Taylor. One judge only have Postol a single round.
Many felt Postol was up after six rounds, and saw Taylor rally in the second half, including shaking off some damage in the seventh round and scoring a big knockdown in the tenth.
Taylor admits he was caught off-guard by just how well Postol fought when they stepped in ring.
The unbeaten contender also says he wasn't fighting at his very best - but felt Postol presented nothing that he couldn't handle.
“He came here and I think he fought the best fight of his career,” said Taylor to The Scotsman. “He came here and it was his last crack of the whip. If he’d beaten me he would’ve been back in title contention. He came in the best shape of his life and it showed.
“His feet were livelier than I’d seen previously. He surprised me and three or four times during the fight I had to adapt the way I was boxing. I was getting caught early on and my defence was a bit too leaky but I got the job done eventually.
“It was a huge step but I didn’t feel like it was anything I couldn’t handle. Not once did I feel uncomfortable or feel like I was out of my depth. I was just trying too hard and when I did relax I got my shots off and started coming on strong.
“In terms of the stage, and who the opponent was, it was a huge step up but in terms of actual boxing it was nothing I couldn’t handle. If I’d performed at 100 percent my best, I strongly believe I would’ve got him out of there.”
