It's difficult not to sit here and scratch our heads at the judges scoring but Katie Taylor's reign as the World Champion is over. We may be a biased audience but it looked for all the world that Taylor had managed to eek out a win over Estelle Moselly at the World Championship semi-final in Astana.
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However, Taylor's dream of six lightweight World Championship titles in a row is over after the French boxer was given the win on a split decision.
Taylor took the first round on all three scorecards and it looked like the same outcome was going to come in the second with a number of solid combinations but two of three judges favoured Moselly's work in the second. If that was the case in the second then it appeared that it should probably have been the same in the third.
Moselly managed to shake Taylor and times and it looked like the French fighter would have the lead going into the final round. However, once again the judges were more inclined to disagree. Moselly was in control but once again all three judges gave the round to Taylor.
That set things perfectly up for the final round in which it looked for all the world that Taylor was comfortably sailing through.
Great final round from Katie Taylor, got to be in the final now pic.twitter.com/u7egfNzWLx
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) May 26, 2016
That was our summation just a couple of moments before the decision came in but somehow it wasn't to be. Two judges gave the final round to the French fighter. That left the contest as a split decision in favour of Moselly. Incredibly, one judge scored all four rounds to Taylor with the other two calling it as two apiece.
Majority draws aren't in operation obviously enough so the decision of the two undecided voters was that Moselly just shaded things over all. And just like that, Taylor's reign as world champion is over and the Bray woman will have to settle for a bronze ahead of the Olympics.
See also: Why Is Irish Boxing's Latest Star Not Going To The Olympics?
The Experimental 90s are a particular favourite https://t.co/R8KhBDKQpv
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) May 26, 2016
