From May 2021 to May 2022, Taylor reigned as the undisputedlight-welterweight champion, unifying all four major titles in the division and being only the sixth male boxer to do so. With his win over José Ramírez in 2021, Taylor became the second Scotsman to be an undisputed champion and the first Briton to do so in the four-belt era.
Taylor was a junior taekwondo champion, and turned to boxing at 15. He spent a short time at Meadowbank ABC and then moved onto Lochend ABC under coach Terry McCormack of Edinburgh.[7] Taylor won a silver medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, where he was beaten by Thomas Stalker in the lightweight final by 11–3.[8]
Taylor started his professional career in June 2015, signing with Barry McGuigan's Cyclone Promotions, and was trained by Shane McGuigan.[7][14][15] Taylor made his debut in July 2015, defeating Archie Weah with a second round technical knockout (TKO).
In his seventh fight, Taylor picked up the Commonwealth light-welterweight title by beating Dave Ryan with a fifth-round stoppage. Ryan went down twice over the course of the bout. Ryan had previously held the title between 2014 and 2015.[16] Taylor won his first seven fights by knockout (KO). His KO streak came to an end against Alfonso Olvera, who went eight rounds with Taylor at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on 28 January 2017. Taylor won the fight by unanimous decision (UD) with scores of 79–72, and 78-73 twice. On 24 March Taylor defended his Commonwealth title for the first time, beating Warren Joubert with a sixth-round TKO, after hurting him several times with left hooks. Joubert went down in round six and his corner threw in the towel.[17]
Rise up the ranks
Taylor vs Davies
On 8 July Taylor faced WBC Silver champion and fellow unbeaten prospect Ohara Davies. The two had previously taunted each other on Twitter. Taylor would also be defending the Commonwealth title.[18] Taylor dominated the fight and stopped Davies, dropping him once in round three and twice in round seven before the referee halted the contest.[19]
Taylor vs Vázquez
Taylor defended his WBC Silver title against former lightweight world champion Miguel Vázquez on 11 November at the Royal Highland Centre.[20] Although Vázquez' style seemed to pose problems for Taylor in the early rounds, Taylor wore him down as the fight went on. Vázquez went down in round nine from body shots, and he failed to beat the count. This was Vázquez' first stoppage loss.[21]
On 18 January 2018 it was confirmed that Taylor would defend his WBC Silver light-welterweight title against veteran Humberto Soto on 3 March 2018, at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow.[22] On 24 February 2018 it was revealed that Soto had sustained an injury whilst training meaning he had to pull out the fight. On the same day, Winston Campos was announced as his replacement.[23]
At a gala held in Moscow, Taylor selected to fight Ryan Martin in the quarter-finals. Taylor dominated the fight with Martin throwing few punches. In the seventh round, Taylor landed a flurry of punches that staggered Martin which resulted in referee Victor Loughlin stopping the fight.[25]
In January 2020, Taylor signed a promotional deal with Top Rank and an advisory deal with MTK Global.[28] In his next fight, the Scotsman defended his titles against undefeated challenger Apinun Khongsong on 26 September 2020 at York Hall, London. Taylor did not waste any time, dropping and stopping Khongsong in the first round with a body shot. The time of stoppage was 2:41.[29]
Taylor faced WBC and WBO championJosé Ramírez on 22 May 2021, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada, for the undisputed light-welterweight title.[30] Taylor knocked his opponent down twice in the sixth and seventh rounds, both times with his left hand, en route to a unanimous decision victory with all three judges scoring the bout 114–112 in his favour. The result meant that Taylor became the second Scotsman to be an undisputed champion (after Ken Buchanan); the first British fighter to become an undisputed champion in the four-belt era; and only the fifth man to do so after Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor, Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk.[31]
Taylor's first defence of his undisputed light-welterweight title had been scheduled for 18 December 2021, against WBO mandatory challenger Jack Catterall at SSE Hydro in Glasgow.[32] It was announced by Taylor on 21 October that he had suffered an injury, and thus the fight was postponed to 26 February 2022.[33]
On the night, despite being knocked down by Catterall in the eighth round and being seemingly outboxed by the challenger, Taylor was handed a very controversial split decision victory, with scores of 114–111 and 113–112 in his favour, and 113–112 in favour of Catterall. According to CompuBox, Catterall landed more punches than Taylor in 11 out of 12 rounds. The challenger landed 120 of 525 (23%) total punches, and 81 of 267 (30%) of his power punches, with Taylor throwing and landing far fewer in comparison: 73 of 306 (24%) overall, and 57 of 179 (32%) on power shots.[34][35] Former world cruiserweight champion and pundit Johnny Nelson stated, "It's decisions like this which turn casual fans off. Josh Taylor did not win that fight."[36] The decision was labelled as "the biggest robbery in British boxing history".[37] Irish bookmaker Paddy Power stated that they would be refunding all stakes placed by their customers on Catterall to win the bout, as it "was an absolute robbery".[38] Despite the widespread public opinion, Taylor was defiant in his post-fight interview, saying, "I don't think there is any need for a rematch... I know I won the fight."[39]
Taylor vs. Lopez
On April 8, 2023, it was officially announced that Taylor would defend his WBO and The Ring light welterweight belts against former unifiedlightweight world champion Teofimo Lopez on June 10 at the Hulu Theater in New York City.[40] Taylor lost by unanimous decision.
Personal life
Born in Prestonpans, Scotland, Taylor has a sister, Finch. As a child, he was passionate about motorcycle racing, and "dreamed about being a world champion superbike racer or a world champion MotoGP racer"; he named motorcycle racers Valentino Rossi and Steve Hislop as his childhood heroes.[41] Taylor has been a supporter of Hibernian F.C. since he was a child.[42]
In December 2019, Taylor was arrested and charged with behaving in a threatening or abusive manner due to an incident whilst partying in Edinburgh. After being asked to leave a nightclub, he said a bouncer's "nose ring is gay", and referred to the bouncer as a "gay-looking cunt" and a "big orange-looking cunt".[43] Taylor later pleaded guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and was fined £350. He said on Twitter afterwards, "I whole heartedly apologise for my stupid actions. It has been a rollercoaster of a year for me, becoming unified world champion and on this occasion I've taken it too far."[44]
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