Taylor struggled to impose himself and had little impact with his offense, charging up on some shots that didn’t bother Hutchinson. He seemed to mimic Deontay Wilder’s fighting style.
The problem is, if you don’t have that leveling power, you’re just a stationary target for a technician. Hutchinson’s footwork kept him two steps ahead, and Taylor’s lack of a backup plan made it look like a glorified sparring session in the middle rounds.
Hutchinson was essentially fighting a ghost because Taylor’s “bombs” landed on nothing but the sky.
When a fighter relies entirely on power but lacks the setup or the actual power to back it up, they become a punching bag for a technician like Hutchinson. Those 98-92 and 99-91 scores reflect a guy who just collected data and potted shots at will. Hutchinson’s lateral movement and head slots made Taylor look like he was underwater, swinging for the fences while Hutchinson was already recovering for the next combination.
It was a masterclass in making an opponent look amateurish by simply not being where the punches were supposed to land.
Willy needed a dominant rebound, and he picked the perfect opponent to showcase his boxing IQ without taking much backfire.
Hutchinson’s win tonight helped wash away the bitter taste of that Joshua Buatsi loss. As he out-boxed Taylor, you could tell he was also fighting the pressure of his own rankings. Coming in at #6 with the WBC and #10 with the IBF, he couldn’t afford to slip up, especially against someone like Taylor, who only got the fight because of a ringside fight.
