GLASGOW, Scotland — Just as he did during Friday's weigh-in, Josh Taylor made Ekow Essuman wait to feel the national pride awaiting the 34-year-old in his latest homecoming. Taylor raced towards him intensely early, but Essuman's engine and combination punching proved decisive in the second-half of a competitive chess match over 12 rounds.

Zoltan Enyedi (116-112), John Latham (116-113) and Giulio Piras (115-113) all scored it for Essuman (22-1, 8 KOs), as he pitched a career-best unanimous decision victory to win the vacant WBO Global welterweight title and silence a rowdy Scottish crowd.

"I remember a lot of stuff from when we sparred," he told DAZN's Ade Oladipo in the ring post-fight before reaffirming his desire to box for a world title before much longer.

Taylor (19-3, 13 KOs) pawed out behind his right hand, measuring Essuman and looking to gain rhythm as the early aggressor. Frequently stepping on the older man's foot, he pressed with an urgency we've rarely seen from the former undisputed junior welterweight champion and the question was: how would he respond once Ekow fired back? The result was mixed.

Taylor dug to the body, landed a series of rights and Essuman was resembling little more than a sparring partner with strict instructions not to reply often, nor engage in a firefight.

Taylor went back downstairs early in the second, Essuman landing a looping right in response and as the Glasgow crowd serenaded their man, the 34-year-old looked to chain combination punching and stiff single shots to deter Essuman from charging forward.

Essuman's cuffing work on the inside was well-intentioned but not frequent enough, as he complained to referee Bob Williams after absorbing some rabbit punching in another assertive round for the former champion. Biting on feints and sweat flying off his body with increasing frequency, the optics didn't favour the Nottingham resident through six minutes.

If that was the case, then he began the third with a frenzied attack in the first half-minute to keep Taylor honest and suddenly defending flurries in the corner. He would've heard a smattering of Essuman chants from a partisan crowd whose noise had eased slightly, signs that Taylor had been tagged a bit too much for comfort in a far more competitive stanza - replays showing a pair of right hands piercing through the favourite's high guard.

In the fourth, both were briefly frozen backwards on wobbly legs after absorbing a right hand they didn't see coming. First it was Taylor, connecting clean during a better round, before Essuman did the same - all in the final minute of a tense fourth - jeopardy lingering, as you couldn't tell which of the two was more hurt. Essuman wore damage, while Taylor's defensive sharpness was noticeably not as high as it has been during his 140-pound peak.

As fans of both barked instructions ringside during a high-paced fifth, Taylor had the final say in another competitive stanza behind his right hand. Essuman was undeterred, firing back with bad intentions to start the sixth, his team shouting that Taylor was 'having a rest' during a lull period in centre ring, with which he needed to punish him accordingly.

Taylor's lax defence was chastised by a restless support team ringside midway through the seventh, Essuman tagging him too much for comfort and now the optics weren't doing him any favours, sporting two cuts - a gash above his left eye and another directly below it.

"Don't give him any respect, Ekow," was the cry from the away corner early in the eighth and they didn't want him to take a backwards step. Pressing forward, he caught the favourite and swiveled away from subsequent danger nicely midway through the stanza.

The sight of Essuman overextending on a punch and needing to hold the ropes to keep his balance drew ironic jeers from the crowd, Taylor briefly bursting into life with a pair of body shots as the phrase 'win the round' couldn't be any more apt than during this sequence.

"Don't leave it in the tank," was the next command for Essuman, who began the ninth in charge and Taylor's quicker output had noticeably slowed to this point. A combination rattled the home hero's guard before Taylor replied with singles during a scrappy round.

Carl Frampton on DAZN's broadcast had Taylor 86-85 up after nine rounds and truthfully, this encounter felt close heading into the final quarter. Taylor got the crowd stirring again in anticipation midway through the round after pushing him back with multiple single shots, though Essuman took it in his stride, replying with more output and a jolting right hand too.

Still all to play for as round 11 began, Essuman caught Taylor's attention with more piercing singles before landing a four-punch combination shortly afterwards. Taylor needed to increase his lateral movement, these scoring flurries not helping him deter Essuman's high-pressure style from finding its target. Instead, the visiting corner complained of excessive holding from "The Tartan Tornado", waiting too long to engage with limited attacks.

The pair exchanged moments of fleeting success in the final frame, Taylor first then Essuman, weary legs clearly a factor for both as they tried to win the round and connect on cleaner work. Essuman's punches in bunches were doing the trick, Taylor teetering on the edge, trying to counter but with mixed success before being pinned against the ropes.

The crowd noise swelled once more in the final seconds, at the end of an emotionally exhausting encounter with neither sure whether they'd done enough at the bell. Essuman was soon aloft on the shoulders of one of his cornermen, displaying a shirt remembering manager/trainer Jimmy Gill who sadly passed away in January. He would've been proud.