PHILADELPHIA —
Johnstown’s Andres Taylor mentally digested the atmosphere as his opponent, Rayshawn Myers, entered the ring at Asylum Arena in Philadelphia on Friday night.
Myers had donned a mask the fictional character Michael Myers made famous in the slasher horror movie “Halloween.” The Cleveland boxer even had the distinctively nerve-wracking music that typically plays in the background right before Michael Myers creates havoc in the movies.
But the masks, music and hype didn’t deter Taylor, the World Boxing Foundation All Americas cruiserweight title holder.
Taylor knocked down Myers in the first round and then countered Myers’ defensive tactics the rest of the way to win a unanimous decision in four rounds. The judges scored the fight, 40-37, 40-37 and 39-37, all in Taylor’s favor.
“He came out and I thought it was going to be a horror movie,” said Taylor, who is
17-1-2. “He had the Michael Myers theme, the Halloween music. He was wearing a Michael Myers mask. I thought it was going to be a scary movie. It turned out to be an ugly fight.
“I dropped in him the first round. He knows about me and he knew I had power.
“He was a runner. Instead of being Michael Myers, he was like Michael Jackson. He was running all over the ring. He was running the whole fight. It was frustrating. He tried to play around, do the Ali shuffle and run. I was upset.”
Taylor had some success working Myers’ body in the first round by using his powerful right hand. Myers, a 3-9 lefty, began showboating and landed two lefts.
He nearly connected on a third punch near the end of the round, but Taylor caught him with a counter right that put Myers on the canvas.
Myers took the second round, mostly circling the ring and using his jab as Taylor went after him. In the third round, Taylor was more effective. Myers did the “Ali shuffle,” imitating the great champion Muhammad Ali, but Taylor still won a close round.
The Johnstown boxer finished with a strong fourth round to secure the victory.
“I did what I could do,” Taylor said. “I tried to work the jab. He left me with no real options but to chase him down and try to hit him with a big shot. I caught him early but after that he was in high gear. He had his pedals going. He was not stopping.”
The fight was shortened to four rounds because of the lengthy card headlined by Raymond “Tito” Serrano’s knockout of journeyman Corey Alarcon in the fifth round.
“I haven’t fought a four-rounder since I had four fights,” Taylor said. “That kind of throws you off a little bit. In a four-rounder, anything can happen. I usually like to feel a guy out a little bit but in a four-rounder you have to just get in there and get to work.”
A group of area fans traveled to Philadelphia.
“We had about 30 or 40 people from Johnstown,” Taylor said. “That wasn’t bad for a 41⁄2 hour drive on a Friday night. The promoter was pretty happy to see all those Taylor Made fans. It was a good thing.”
Taylor next is tentatively set to be part of a card headlined by Roy Jones at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh on April 23.
“We’re going to finalize the contract within a day or so. They’ve already got me on the poster,” Taylor said. “Right now it looks like I’m going to fight Frank White, who is ranked No. 4 in Canada. He’s a tougher fighter. He just fought for the WBC Continental title. He fought a 12-rounder and lost.”
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Taylor wins four-round decision
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