Tyrone McKenna vs Liam Taylor Preview December 10th, 2022
WBO European Welterweight Title Champion Liam Taylor of England will be defending his title against Tyrone McKenna of Belfast, Northern Ireland this Saturday, December 10th. The 10-rounder from Belfast can be seen live in America on ESPN+. Taylor last fought in October when he stopped stopped Martin Harkin in the fourth round to win the vacant belt. McKenna last saw action in August when he edged Chris Jenkins via a controversial 10-round unanimous decision.
McKenna vs Taylor Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Tyrone McKenna +100
- Liam Taylor -130
My Pick
The 32-year-old southpaw McKenna climbs into the ring with a mark of 23-3-1 with 6 Ko’s. He’s quite tall for the division at 6-feet-1-inch but unfortunately his reach is unlisted. He made his pro debut back in 2012 after a considerable amateur career in which he lost to Carl Frampton, and has now fought 172 rounds as a pro. McKenna doesn’t carry much power in his fists at all as his current knockout ratio stands at just 22.2 per cent.
He hasn’t stopped anybody since June, 2017, which was 12 fights ago. McKenna’s first pro loss didn’t come until 2018 when he dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to Jack Catterall in a shot at the WBO Inter-Continental Super Lightweight Title. He was dropped in the second and fifth rounds in that fight while Catterall was deducted a point for hitting him while he was down.
His second defeat came is September, 2020 at the hands of Ohara Davies when he was edged via a 10-round majority decision and lost his WBC International Super Lightweight belt which he won against Darragh Foley by 10-round unanimous decision in June, 2019 and successfully defended twice. He was then in over his head against Regis Prograis in March of this year as he was dropped in the second round and stopped in the sixth.
McKenna’s lone draw was a six-round affair with Arvydas Trizno in 2016. Other than Davies, Felix and Catterall, McKenna has fought mainly domestic level opponents and that’s exactly what he’ll be doing when he meets Taylor this weekend so he should be back in his comfort zone after fighting a world-class boxer like Prograis earlier in the year.
The 31-year-old Taylor carries around a mark of 25-2-1 with 12 Ko’s and has 122 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2011 following his amateur career. His height and reach are both unlisted so unfortunately we can’t compare him size-wise to McKenna. Taylor carries around average power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 43 per cent and has two wins by stoppage in his last eight bouts.
Taylor’s first pro loss was a 10-round unanimous decision to Tyrone Nurse in 2015 when he was dropped in the seventh round. He was then stopped in the second round by David Avanesyan last October in a shot at the European Welterweight Title. His lone draw was a four-round technical decision against Chris Jenkins in November, 2019 when the fight was stopped due to a cut to Jenkins which was caused by an accidental head butt. That bout was for Jenkins’ British and Commonwealth Welterweight Titles.
Prediction…
Taylor hasn’t really fought anybody of note or any legitimate world title contenders as of yet and it can be argued that McKenna has faced the tougher opposition so far. However, he fell short when doing so against Prograis, Davies and Catterall. This should be a good domestic British punch up though and while Taylor has the edge in power I think McKenna’s height and hometown advantage will be just enough to help him pull out a close, hard-fought victory.
A close call but I’m giving McKenna a slight edge.
Play: McKenna +100 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Liam Taylor betting • Tyrone McKenna betting