Josh Taylor vs Ekow Essuman full fight details
The fighters on tomorrow’s ‘Land of the Brave’ card weighed-in in today in Glasgow.
Former undisputed super-lightweight champion Josh Taylor makes his welterweight bow against WBO #4 Ekow Essuman in the headline attraction at the OVO Hydro, live on DAZN.
Also on the card is rising heavyweight star Moses Itauma who takes on American Mike Balugon whose only loss came against Murat Gassiev.
Two all-Scottish match-ups features Nathaniel Collins vs Lee McGregor, and Aston Brown vs Reece Porter go at it in a battle of unbeaten prospects.
An intriguing cruiserweight clash sees Aloys Junior and David Jamieson contest the WBA Continental and vacant Commonwealth belts.
Also, the sons of two Scottish boxing legends appear, as Alex Arthur Jr and Drew Limond, make their pro bows.
First fight starts at 7pm BST / 2pm ET, with the main event scheduled for 10pm BST / 5pm ET, but boxing events can often be subject to delays.
Radio station TalkSport (1089 / 1053 AM) will be providing live coverage of the event from 8pm BST, with Adam Catterall and Gareth A Davies serving as co-hosts.
Main Event 10pm BST / 5pm ET (approx)
12×3 Vacant WBO Global Welterweight Title
Josh Taylor – 146.8 lbs
Ekow Essuman – 146.4 lbs
10×3 WBO Inter-Continental & WBA International Heavyweight Title
Moses Itauma – 254 lbs
Mike Balogun – 241 lbs
12×3 Vacant WBC Silver Featherweight Championship
Nathaniel Collins – 125.6 lbs
Lee McGregor – 125.4 lbs
12×3 WBA Continental & vacant Commonwealth Cruiserweight Title
Aloys Jr – 199 lbs
David Jamieson – 198.4 lbs
10×3 Vacant BBBofC Scottish Area Middleweight Title
Aston Brown – 159.6 lbs
Reece Porter – 159.4 lbs
4×3 Super-Welterweight Contest
Drew Limond – 148.8 lbs
Ezequiel Gregores – 150 lbs
8×3 Super-Lightweight Contest
Luke McCormack – 143.2 lbs
Samir Cuentas – 144 lbs
4×3 Light-Heavyweight Contest
Alex Arthur Jr – 171 lbs
Robbie Chapman – 171 lbs
4×3 Lightweight Contest
Luke Bibby – 135.3 lbs
Cesar Ignacio Paredes – 134 lbs
4×3 Lightweight Contest
Lee Welsh – 133.1 lbs
Tony Morton – 134.6 lbs
6×3 Super-Bantamweight Contest
Marcus Sutherland – 127.3 lbs
Dylan Nixon – 127.4 lbs
4×3 Welterweight Contest
Reese Lynch – 141.6 lbs
Jonatas De Oliviera – 140.1 lbs
Quotes
Josh Taylor: “It is great to be back here and this has been my home since the Commonwealth Games. I’ve had most of my big fights here, Victor Postol, my first world title against Ivan Baranchyk, so I’ve had most of my big nights here, so I am looking forward to getting back. It has been a little while since I’ve been here, so I am looking to put on a big show on Saturday.
“Obviously training has been gruesome and hard, hard work, but it feels like I am at holiday camp this week. No dieting, cutting weight or drying out tonight, getting the last bit of water you can out of you. There is none of that this week, I am full of beans, full of energy with a spring in my step. I can’t wait to get going on Saturday.
“I will get this journey rebooted and kickstarted again. Take care of business on Saturday, do it in a good fashion and look forward to moving on to big fights in the future.
“At 140lbs what else was there left for me to do? I’d completed boxing in a sense and won every single belt in boxing you can win. What else was there for me in terms of challenges, setting new targets? There was nothing to do. So, what there was, was moving up with an assault on becoming a two-time, two-weight world champion.
“I am planning on taking this guy out on Saturday and that is what I’m going to do.”
Ekow Essuman: “Thank you to everyone in Glasgow for accepting me, everyone has been extremely welcoming and it is a beautiful place. I am just happy to be here.
“That is the whole point of it, we’re supposed to do that [in response to Taylor’s taking out comment]. I don’t take offence to it, it is what it is. He’s in my way, I’m in his way.
“Of course he believes it, he should. That is good, if Taylor wants to try and end it early it might be to his detriment. We are going to find out on Saturday. I came prepared for the best Josh Taylor there can be, so this is just confirming what I thought would come.
“It doesn’t matter about being his backyard or if it was back in Nottingham or in London. I don’t have a lot of shows I’ve boxed on in my home city, like big shows, so I am used to being the away fighter.
“It is just same job, different venue.”
Betting Odds
4/11 Taylor
14/5 Essuman
20/1 Draw
Prediction
Tim Rickson, BBN Editor: “Essuman hasn’t yet fought above domestic level, whereas Taylor has made boxing history at world level when he became the first four-belt undisputed champion from the UK.
“Essuman is known as “The Engine” for a reason, because he can get into his groove and throw non-stop punches for eternity, it’s quite a spectacle to watch. And Taylor is known as “The Tartan Tornado” for his ability to swarm and smother opponents, so this could potentially be a fight with a lot of activity.
“If the pair fight in close quarters, then I think Taylor’s superior inside game will gradually break Ekow down. But the Nottingham man is so tough, if you knock him down, he gets back up.
“I fully believe Taylor wins, most likely on points, but I wouldn’t rule out a late stoppage either, because this could be a very high-octane, busy fight, with lots of output from both boxers. They have both been down before, so this could be a really exciting fight!”