Josh Taylor’s coach, Ben Davison, has responded to the news that the champion’s defeat to Jack Catterall has spread to the political world.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House and MP for Chorley (Catterall’s hometown) has sent a letter to the police following the controversial grading. While most of the media reported that Catterall won, Ian John-Lewis awarded the victory to Taylor 114-111.
Speaking to Boxing Social about Hoyle’s letter, Davison said, “What are you going to do to get CID to start scoring boxing matches? Comical.”
Davison is in Nottingham this week overseeing final preparations for Leigh Wood’s first defense of the WBA featherweight title against Michael Conlan on Saturday. While it was a fascinating fight, Davison was still in the spotlight from the recent Glasgow events, where Taylor remained the undisputed ultralight champion.
“This controversy only happens in the UK,” he said. “In America, Andre Ward had Josh Taylor win the battle. Now if people want to second guess his integrity, that is up to them. RING magazine rated Josh Taylor to win the fight with one point. It is only here that there is this controversy. The fight is a hard fight to score points and there is a lot of rotation in it. “
Sadly, Taylor and his family were abused, which also left a stain on the aftermath of the event.
“It’s disappointing to see,” Davison commented. “Not only the way the public and social media and the way people have behaved there, but also the professionals in the sport. The way they keep things going, I think almost encourages some of this behavior to continue knowing that Josh’s family is receiving disgusting texts. ”
Davison and Taylor were recently named Coach and Boxer of the Year at this year’s Board of Control Awards. Davison revealed he and Taylor talked about the Catterall fight at the event and told Boxing Social the rematch at 147lbs was something they were interested in.
“We are very interested in it. That’s a great step towards [Josh] become a world champion in two weight classes. It’s become a pay-per-view battle in my opinion. A big lucrative fight but of course we’re on the same team, same advisor, so I’m sure a conclusion to what’s best for both fighters will be found. “
Click this to watch the full interview with Ben Davison as he discusses the main event of Leigh Wood-Michael Conlan this Saturday.
