Josh Taylor suffered his first defeat and lost his WBO and Ring Magazine super-lightweight titles to Teofimo Lopez on points in New York.

It was the 32-year-old Scotsman’s first bout since his contentious win over Englishman Jack Catterall in February, 2022 and it was another struggle at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

The Scot started well enough but Lopez grew in confidence and finished the fight strongly, landing some thumping shots, particularly in the second-half of the bout, which impressed the judges who declared a unanimous win for the 25-year-old Brooklyn boxer.

Steve Gray called it 115-113 as did Joe Pasquale with Benoit Roussel scoring it 117-111 for the new champion.

Afterwards Taylor, whose first loss came in his 20th fight, was magnanimous in defeat, telling Sky Sports: “No excuses. He was better on the night. It is what it is so congratulations to Teofimo.

“I would love to do it again. I know I am better than that and I know I can beat him.

“So yes, I would love to do it again but he’s the champ and the ball is in his court.”

Lopez said: “I just want to thank God first. It has been a long time coming.

“We just beat the number one champion, Josh Taylor, former undisputed champion.”

Taylor, who unified the division before vacating several titles, had started impressively.

Using his size and reach advantage, the Prestonpans southpaw delivered some accurate jabs and powerful body shots in the early rounds.

Lopez slipped to the canvas in the third and pushed Taylor to the ground in the fourth where he staggered the Scot in the final seconds of the round with a powerful shot.

Taylor came back in the next round with a clean left and right before Lopez landed a low blow in the sixth where he again finished the aggressor.

Lopez looked confident coming out for the seventh but had to absorb a couple of clean shots from the Scot before he rocked him with a right hand at the end of the round.

The home fighter indulged in some showboating in the eighth round as his confidence increased further.

Lopez’s hand speed was causing all sorts of problems for Taylor who was rocked again in the ninth round which the challenger dominated.

Taylor was clipped twice in the 11th round which ended with Lopez lifting his arms in a victory pose which the Scot replicated but less convincingly.

In the final round Taylor was again left unsteady on his feet after taking some shots with Lopez clearly believing he had won when the bell rang – the judges confirming that belief moments later.

Josh Taylor was held back from world title challenger Teofimo Lopez by a New York policeman and several security guards during a bizarre pre-fight press conference.

Promoters Top Rank dispensed with the usual face-to-face photographs following some highly charged comments between the pair in the media in the lead-up to this weekend’s fight at Madison Square Garden.

A statement before the media event read: “Instead of a traditional face-off, a layer of security will separate the combatants. Additional security has been hired due to the intense pre-fight rhetoric between the two combatants.”

After a question-and-answer session with the event host, a burly police officer entered the stage flanked by security guards either side and put his arms on Taylor several times to prevent the Scot approaching American Lopez.

The 25-year-old challenger stated last month that he liked the thought of being able to kill in the ring and get away with it, which prompted Taylor to warn “let’s see who ends up in the back of an ambulance” if he tried to do so during their WBO super-lightweight title fight.

When asked at Thursday’s media conference whether his comments relayed genuine hostility, Lopez said: “It is what it is, I speak my truth, that’s how I feel. Everything I speak out I am just trying to make into existence.”

When asked the same question, Taylor, who unified the division before vacating several titles, said: “It is a little bit genuine. I say what I mean as well. There is a bit of genuine dislike there.

“He has been disrespectful. A lot of words he has said, I am going to make him pay for on Saturday. I can’t wait to get in there and get tore in amongst him.”

Ring magazine belt-holder Taylor later branded Lopez, a former lightweight world champion, a “clown” after quoting Mike Tyson and called on him to produce his own saying.

Lopez, wearing a white suit with no shirt, responded: “Aim for death because that’s where life begins. Everyone is scared of death, I don’t know why, we all going to die, but at least if I die I will die for something that means something, that is going to last forever. It’s what greats are all about. Something that you don’t really know.”

Taylor, wearing a Scotland football top, was quickly manhandled by the police officer and joined on stage by six security guards when he moved towards his opponent to speak to him during the photoshoot.

The fight is due to start about 4am UK time in the early hours of Sunday morning.