Josh Taylor: 'Is welterweight a step too far for champion after Jack Catterall controversy?'

The irony about the word 'undisputed' remaining alongside Josh Taylor's name today is that everything about his victory over Jack Catterall is disputed by pretty much everybody in the fight game.

None of this hubbub is Taylor's fault, it has to be said. None of the criticism that is now swirling around the decision to retain him as king of the light-welterweights is down to him.

He was nowhere near his best, lacked energy, accuracy and got nailed repeatedly by Catterall's efficiency, but the decision was obviously out of his ineffective hands on the night. He's a fighter, not the judge and jury.

• Taylor set to move up division

• Taylor beats Catterall on controversial split decision

Current and former fighters, current and former managers and promoters, boxing aficionados who have lived and breathed the sport their whole life all gave this decision to Catterall. They all lined up to express their outrage at what they saw as a sweeping injustice perpetrated on the underdog in the home country of the champ.

Carl Frampton: "It's wrong, it's wrong."

Dillian Whyte: "Disgusting."

Luke Campbell: "Shocking."

Alex Arthur: "I'm the proudest Scotsman in history but Jack Catterall was just robbed of a world title."

Somebody gave the Englishman the contest by a veritable landslide, others by a few rounds. One set of stats showed Catterall landed 166 of 357 punches thrown and Taylor landed just 85 of 255. Another set had it that Catterall landed 120 to Taylor's 73. Yet another showed Catterall had landed more blows in every one of the 12 rounds bar one - the 10th.

The numbers might have varied but the consensus was the same - Catterall won. There were exceptions, of course. Andre Ward, the American former two-weight world champion, gave it to Taylor. So did Taylor - who else would he give it to?

Most critically, two of the three judges gave it to him. Victor Loughlin, of Scotland, scored it 113-112. Ian John-Lewis, of England, scored it 114-111 to Taylor, a three-round victory that stunned all those experts who watched the same fight and yet came up a vastly different outcome.

All sorts of flak has been thrown at Loughlin and John-Lewis, but none of it is going to do Catterall any good.

You have to feel for him. If he reads the coverage he will see words like "embarrassing", "shameful", "robbery" and "travesty"; he will pick up on outrage about boxing being ruined by such indefensible nights - but none of that will bring him those belts he looked to have earned.

The thunderous disparity between the verdicts of the experts on the outside and the judges at ringside is compelling. It's not like Loughlin and John-Lewis are day trippers to the profession. Loughlin refereed his first fight in 1996 and became a judge in 2002. John-Lewis started his refereeing life in 1992 and sat as judge for the first time in 1998.

Between them they have refereed or judged more than 2,500 fights going back 30 years. You could scarcely get more experienced operators and yet on Saturday they came up with scoring that bamboozled boxing, broke Catterall's heart and gave Taylor his victory.

'Can Taylor compete at welterweight?'

Taylor had to say what he said afterwards. Deep down, you wonder what he's thinking, though. We got a small glimpse of his inner thoughts when he was asked post-fight about a possible rematch. He ruled it out on the grounds that there was no need, that he was the winner and that nothing would be gained by going again.

The reality is more likely to be borne out of concern. Why no rematch? Because Catterall showed himself to be a formidable operator who might do untold damage to Taylor's dreams before he has a chance to reach the more lucrative world of the welterweight division and a shot at becoming a two-weight world champion, his stated aim.

It's brutally unfair on Catterall, but he will have spooked Taylor. Morally, he deserves another chance, but the reality is that no good would come of that for the Scot. It would be a decent payday but it wouldn't justify the risk of losing, which he might well do the next time. Taylor will move on and Catterall will be left to live with this decision. Boxing is a savage business.

Errol Spence Jr is currently a two-belt champion at welterweight

Taylor said Saturday was most likely his last appearance as a 140lb fighter. Perhaps the battle to make the weight was part of what ailed him at the Hydro. His masterplan would have seen him beat Catterall convincingly before announcing that he has totally and utterly cleared up the light-welterweight division and that there were no more mountains for him to climb.

He's definitely cleaned it up, but there will forever be a metaphorical asterisk beside this victory and, maybe, more doubt about his ability to prosper in the uncertain, but more glamorous, world of the 147lb fighter.

If he gives up his four belts at light-welterweight - as appears likely - Taylor steps up in every sense, not just in poundage but in pounds - and class. If it goes well, he will become an extremely wealthy man as well as nailing down his place in British boxing history, but this will be rough terrain, not just winning the big fights but getting the big fights in the first place.

There are two real titans at 147 - Terence Crawford, WBO world champion, and Errol Spence Jr, WBC and IBF world champion. In April, Spence is fighting WBA champion Yordenis Ugas from Cuba. Spence - 27-0 with 21 by knockout - is expected to win.

Boxing pines for Crawford versus Spence. Two unbeaten men (Crawford is 38-0) but such is the contractual wrangling, bitter in-fighting between camps and the public showboating (but private reticence) about one fighter desperately wanting to face another fighter, that it may never happen.

Even if Taylor had put Catterall away with relative ease on Saturday, he would not have been fancied by many to tear it up at 147. The top three in the rankings - Crawford, Spence and Ugas - are aged 34, 32 and 35 respectively. Taylor has just turned 31, so age is on his side in one sense, but not in another.

The next in the pecking order are Jaron 'Boots' Ennis who has won all 28 of his fights, 26 of them as stoppages. Ennis is 24. Next is Vergil Ortiz Jr. His record is a perfect 18 wins and 18 stoppages. Ortiz is only 23. If this is where Taylor is heading, it's a risk, but probably the only road left to him as he attempts to kick on and become the immortal fighter he wants to.

He had a mighty scare on Saturday. Very few fighters get through life without ever being questioned and Taylor is at that point now. After so much deserved praise, he has entered a different realm. He has never been anything other than a unanimously acclaimed winner before.

The relief for him is that the doubts about Saturday - and his capacity to step up after the Catterall decision - exist against a backdrop of his still being an undefeated man, if only in the minds of the few and not the many.