GLASGOW, Scotland — In a tale of two halves, Ekow Essuman's famed engine and tireless combination punching did the trick to puncture a raucous crowd, spoiling Josh Taylor's latest homecoming and leaving the hometown hero with serious questions to answer in the aftermath.

Essuman (22-1, 8 KOs) cited memories of sparring his ex-Team GB teammate in the ring after being lifted aloft triumphantly, aware they'd done more than enough to win. Taylor (19-3, 13 KOs) shook his head and remonstrated his frustrations to the ringside crowd in the opposite side, but this was no controversy.

This week marks four years since his crowning decision win over Jose Carlos Ramirez stateside in Las Vegas, securing undisputed junior welterweight titles at a time where the world was still reeling from the aftereffects of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet this was only his fourth bout since then and he is 1-3 in that time, when truthfully it's even more bleak.

It's easy on nights like these to focus too much on the loser and what they didn't do well, why they lost or what was missing. Taylor looked frozen at times on the back foot, his defence that little bit more penetrable, movement not as sharp as it once was and Essuman acknowledged these factors after a career-best victory.

"I was just all wrong, the wrong opponent for his first fight at 147," he told The Ring in a rowdy dressing room buzzing with delight post-fight.

"I give myself a B-plus, the engine was on full form but my other alterego — The Spectre — wasn't quite there. This was a hard match and I expected so, he started very sharp as he would, I let him set about some of his tricks to see how he operated a bit, had really good sparring to emulate his style so knew the kind of movements I should do to negate his best work."

Essuman, who sparred rounds with Taylor's old foe Jack Catterall (30-2, 13 KOs) among others, emerged with an air of quiet confidence throughout the build-up and notably rejected fight offers — including his own Nottingham homecoming on May 10 — for this opportunity.

The victory would've been made even sweeter by the unseen damage done to him midway through a tactical tussle between longtime competitors, having a suspected broken rib in the seventh.

He reaffirmed a desire to now box for world honours at 147 pounds, having unsuccessfully lobbied to face Jaron Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs, 1 NC) when the 27-year-old only held the IBF strap last year.

Ranked No. 4 by the WBO in last month's latest update, the new WBO Global champion will be watching with vested interest as Brian Norman Jr (27-0, 21 KOs, 2 NC) defends his world title in Japan against No.2-ranked contender Jin Sasaki (19-1-1, 17 KOs) on June 19.

Ennis' stoppage win over Eimantas Stanionis last month saw him add WBA and Ring titles to his mantlepiece in an ever-changing division at the top, bringing intrigue before Taylor's two-weight world title aspirations quickly went up in smoke.

"He's got a good pop on him but had only just come up to welterweight, so needs to develop that [power], the oxygen debt for those later rounds came back to haunt him."

Essuman's corner was animated and incessantly barking instructions throughout the contest, ensuring he didn't let Taylor off the hook or allow extended periods of rest where the punch output slowed.

When asked how he continues to do this, breaking hearts in deep waters as fights enter the later rounds, the 36-year-old and the whole room broke out into sychronised laughter.

"I just wake up, eat, do some hard work, sleep and repeat. Play with my kids, talk to my wife, then more hard work. My coach [Barrington Brown] is like my older brother, been a very good figure in my life for over 16 years now. Back when I was an amateur on Team GB, he said, 'If you turn pro with me, I'll turn you into a champion' and here we are."