Josh Taylor beats Dave Ryan to lift Commonwealth lightweight belt
Friday 21 October 2016 23:37, UK
Josh Taylor claimed the Commonwealth lightweight title with a fifth-round stoppage of Dave Ryan at the Meadowbank Arena in Edinburgh.
The classy amateur, who won a Commonwealth gold medal in Glasgow in 2014, secured his seventh straight stoppage win since turning pro with a composed performance against a much more experienced opponent.
Taylor had not been beyond two rounds in his six previous outings and he was in almost complete control from the opening bell, hurting Ryan in the first round with a couple of powerful shots to the body.
The 33-year-old found himself on the canvas in the third when the Scot, backed by a partisan crowd, connected flush with a left hook.
Ryan survived the count but was already struggling with swelling around his left eye, another red rag to the bullish Taylor who continued to press forward with attacks which often landed.
Another body shot at the end of the fourth had Ryan (17-10-KO4) wincing in pain and he was clearly still struggling to recover as the fifth round began.
Taylor knocked him down for a second time, this time with another pounding punch to Ryan's body, and there was little choice for the referee but to stop the contest when the 25-year-old trapped his man against the ropes and unleashed a fierce barrage of unanswered punches.
