It looks like the end of the road for one of the greatest British fighters of recent times.

Josh Taylor, the former undisputed super lightweight champion, lost a competitive unanimous decision (116-113, 116-112, 115-113) to former British champion Ekow Essuman in Taylor’s welterweight debut Saturday evening at the OVO Hydro arena in Glasgow, Scotland.

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Scotland’s Taylor (19-3, 13 KOs) started the contest well, using his superior speed and timing to land southpaw left hands to Essuman’s chin and body. It wasn’t long before Essuman (22-1, 8 KOs) figured Taylor out, though, and a breakthrough came for him at the end of Round 3 when England’s Essuman buzzed Taylor with a right hand. Taylor proceeded to walk back to the wrong corner at the conclusion of the round after eating Essuman’s power shot.

Essuman, nicknamed “The Engine,” forced Taylor to work at a frenetic pace in the early rounds, and after the conclusion of the fifth round, Essuman increased his output as Taylor began to fatigue. Essuman had success punching in combinations all throughout the second half of the bout. Taylor opted to stand in punching range and block shots rather than move out of the way, despite Essuman’s right hand consistently breaking his guard.

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Essuman’s volume-punching and overall work rate proved too much for Taylor in the championship rounds. All of the eye-catching flurries came from Essuman, while Taylor’s output consisted mostly of single shots.

Taylor’s loss to Essuman is his third consecutive defeat, although some would argue that it was the fourth contest in a row in which Taylor should’ve come up short, as the bout before his current three-fight losing streak was a heavily disputed split-decision victory over Jack Catterall.

At the age of 34, and having reached the pinnacle of the sport, it wouldn’t be surprising if this was the final time we saw Taylor in a boxing ring.

Also on the night, 20-year-old British heavyweight sensation Moses Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs) knocked down Mike Balogun (21-2, 16 KOs) three times en route to a vicious second-round stoppage, and Nathaniel Collins (17-0, 8 KOs) stopped Lee McGregor (15-2-1, 11 KOs) in the fourth round to capture the WBC silver featherweight title.

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Check out complete Essuman vs. Taylor results and highlights below, as well as Uncrowned’s live play-by-play of the main card.

Main card

Welterweight: Ekow Essuman def. Josh Taylor via unanimous decision (116-113, 116-112, 115-113)

Featherweight: Nathaniel Collins def. Lee McGregor via fourth-round TKO | Watch video

Heavyweight: Moses Itauma def. Mike Balogun via second-round TKO | Watch video

Super lightweight: Reese Lynch def. Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveria via second-round KO | Watch video

Cruiserweight: Aloys Junior def. David Jamieson via third-round KO | Watch video

(Post-main event) Featherweight: Marcus Sutherland def. Dylan Nixon via first-round TKO | Watch video

Prelims

Middleweight: Aston Brown def. Reece Porter via first-round TKO | Watch video

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Super middleweight: Alex Arthur def. Robbie Chapman via points (40-36)

Welterweight: Drew Limond def. Ezequiel Gregores via points (40-36)

Super lightweight: Luke McCormack def. Samir Cuentas second-round TKO | Watch video

Lightweight: Lee Welsh def. Tony Morton via first-round TKO | Watch video

Lightweight: Luke Bibby def. Cesar Ignacio Paredes via points (40-36)