BY MIKE MASTOVICH
JOHNSTOWN — Johnstown’s Andres Taylor won over some new, high-profile fans during his unanimous decision victory over William Bailey on Friday at the Pittsburgh Hilton.
“There were like 12 Steelers there,” said Taylor, the World Boxing Foundation All Americas cruiserweight champion.
“Mike Tomlin, Max Starks, Deshea Townsend were all there. (Eight-time world champion) Roy Jones was there. They were cheering for me, which was pretty cool. (Steelers defensive back) Deshea Townsend called me over and said, ‘Man, that was a great fight. That was one of the best fights of the night.’ He was with Louis Lipps, who I had met previously. It was neat to have the Steelers cheering for me when I’m cheering for them every Sunday.”
Taylor did more than talk during his fight against Bailey.
The Johnstown High product nearly scored a knockout while improving his record to 12-1-1 with six KOs.
“He was a veteran. He had a lot of fights,” said Taylor of 10-18-2 Bailey. “It went the distance, but I dropped him in the last round. He barely made the bell. If I had 20 more seconds ... I just worked the body and broke him down. It was a great fight, a learning experience.”
As usually is the case regardless of where he fights, Taylor brought along a solid Johnstown fan base of more than 100. Eventually, he had the Steelers and many of the Pittsburgh spectators in his corner.
Taylor shared top billing with Rayco “War” Saunders.
“It was a star-studded night,” Taylor said. “We had a nice showing from Johnstown. By the end, we had everybody from Pittsburgh screaming, ‘Taylor Made.’ That’s how you do it. You’ve got to build the fan base.”
Taylor’s next fight will be part of a mixed martial arts and boxing card at Altoona’s Jaffa Mosque on Feb. 20.
