Southport Sharks, Gold Coast, Queensland.
17th April 2024.
Joel Taylor has made a successful second defence of his Australian welterweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Lachlan O’Shea.
Taylor started very strong with an intense look like he wanted the fight to finish inside the distance. He maintained this intensity throughout the fight.
O’Shea circled the ring whilst Taylor stalked looking to land hard shots to the head and body.In round four, O’Shea had a cut open on his left eyebrow that the referee Paul Tapley ruled was from a clash of heads. In the middle rounds, O’Shea started to have a little more success with counter punches off the ropes as Taylor continued to pressure and lunge forward at his opponent. The fitness of Taylor was never in question as he continued to keep the fight a high work rate throughout. In the last third of the fight, O’Shea now bleeding from the mouth, showed tremendous courage and heart to keep firing back with every Taylor onslaught. This was to the delight of the fans in attendance.
The last round proved the O’Shea had a lot of courage and heart. He was a beaten man but held on to see the final bell.
Scores were 98-91, 97-92, 96-93.
