# Josh Taylor (boxer)

Josh Taylor (born 2 January 1991) is a Scottish professional boxer. He is a former undisputed light-welterweight champion, having held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Association (WBA) (Super version) titles between 2019 and 2022, the World Boxing Council (WBC) title between 2021 and 2022, the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) title between 2021 and 2023 and the Ring magazine title between 2019 and 2023. At regional level, he held the Commonwealth light-welterweight title from 2016 to 2017. As an amateur, he won a lightweight silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and light-welterweight gold at the 2014 edition.
From May 2021 to May 2022, Taylor reigned as the undisputed light-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 is nicknamed "The Tartan Tornado" for his aggressive boxing style.

## Early 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.

## Amateur career

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. 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.
Following the European Qualifying Event in Trabzon, Turkey, the ACB Lochend boxer qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, losing to number two seed Domenico Valentino in the round of 16. Taylor became the first lightweight Scottish boxer to qualify for the Olympics since Dick McTaggart, who won a gold medal in Melbourne in 1956 and a bronze in Rome at the following games.
He reached a Commonwealth Games final again in 2014, this time at light-welterweight. Taylor won the gold medal, defeating Junias Jonas of Namibia in the final. Taylor also represented the British Lionhearts at the World Series of Boxing.

## Professional career
### Early career

Taylor started his professional career in June 2015, signing with Barry McGuigan's Cyclone Promotions, and was trained by Shane McGuigan. 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. 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.

### 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. Taylor dominated the fight and stopped Davies, dropping him once in round three and twice in round seven before the referee halted the contest.

#### Taylor vs Vázquez

Taylor defended his WBC Silver title against former lightweight world champion Miguel Vázquez on 11 November at the Royal Highland Centre. 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.
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. 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.

#### Taylor vs Postol

In June 2018, Taylor fought former WBC light-welterweight champion, Viktor Postol, gaining a UD win in a twelve-round fight, meaning that he was placed in the mandatory position to fight WBC light-welterweight champion, José Ramírez. The fight took place at the SSE Hydro, Glasgow.

### World Boxing Super Series

On 30 June 2018, it was announced that Taylor would join fellow light welterweights Ryan Martin, Terry Flanagan, Regis Prograis, Eduard Troyanovsky, Anthony Yigit, Ivan Baranchyk and WBA champion, Kiryl Relikh in the eight man tournament.

#### Taylor vs Martin

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.

### IBF light-welterweight champion
#### Taylor vs Baranchyk

Taylor won his first world title, the IBF light-welterweight title, by UD against Ivan Baranchyk in Glasgow on 18 May 2019. Taylor scored two knockdowns in the fight.

### Unified light-welterweight champion
#### Taylor vs Prograis

Taylor won a unification bout against WBA (Super) light-welterweight champion Regis Prograis by majority decision (MD) in the final of the World Boxing Super Series at The O2 Arena in London on 26 October 2019. The fight was shown live on Sky Sports Box Office. Two judges scored the fight 117–112 and 115–113 in favour of Taylor while the third scored it a draw at 114–114. Taylor lifted the Muhammad Ali Trophy as the winner of the 2018-19 World Boxing Super Series – Light-welterweight division along with the vacant Ring magazine title.

#### Taylor vs Khongsong

In January 2020, Taylor signed a promotional deal with Top Rank and an advisory deal with MTK Global. 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.

### Undisputed light-welterweight champion
#### Taylor vs Ramírez

Taylor faced WBC and WBO champion José Ramírez on 22 May 2021, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada, for the undisputed light-welterweight title. 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.

#### Taylor vs. Catterall

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. It was announced by Taylor on 21 October that he had suffered an injury, and thus the fight was postponed to 26 February 2022.
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. 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." The decision was labelled as "the biggest robbery in British boxing history". 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". 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."

#### Taylor vs. Lopez

On 8 April 2023 it was officially announced that Taylor would defend his WBO and The Ring light welterweight belts against former unified lightweight world champion Teofimo Lopez on 10 June at the Hulu Theater in New York City. Taylor lost by unanimous decision.

### Post-title career
#### Taylor vs. Catterall II

On 27 April 2024 in Leeds, England, Taylor was scheduled to face Jack Catterall in a rematch. He lost the fight by unanimous decision with the scores 117-111, 117-111 and 116-113.

#### Taylor vs. Essuman

Taylor is scheduled to face Ekow Essuman in a welterweight bout in Glasgow, Scotland on May 24, 2025.

## Personal life

Taylor is a fan of Hibernian F.C..
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". 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."

## Professional boxing record

| 21 fights | 19 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 13 | 0 |
| By decision | 6 | 2 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 21 | Loss | 19–2 | Jack Catterall | UD | 12 | 25 May 2024 | First Direct Arena, Leeds, England | |
| 20 | Loss | 19–1 | Teofimo Lopez | UD | 12 | 10 Jun 2023 | Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. | Lost WBO and The Ring light-welterweight titles |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Jack Catterall | SD | 12 | 26 Feb 2022 | OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland | Retained WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring light-welterweight titles |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | José Ramírez | UD | 12 | 22 May 2021 | Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, Paradise, Nevada, US | Retained WBA (Super), IBF, and The Ring light-welterweight titles; Won WBC and WBO light-welterweight titles |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Apinun Khongsong | KO | 1 (12), 2:41 | 26 Sep 2020 | York Hall, London, England | Retained WBA (Super), IBF, and The Ring light-welterweight titles |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Regis Prograis | MD | 12 | 26 Oct 2019 | The O2 Arena, London, England | Retained IBF light-welterweight title; Won WBA (Super) and vacant The Ring light-welterweight titles; World Boxing Super Series: Light-welterweight final |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Ivan Baranchyk | UD | 12 | 18 May 2019 | SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland | Won IBF light-welterweight title; World Boxing Super Series: Light-welterweight semi-final |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Ryan Martin | TKO | 7 (12), 2:21 | 3 Nov 2018 | SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland | Retained WBC Silver light-welterweight title; World Boxing Super Series: Light-welterweight quarter-final |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Viktor Postol | UD | 12 | 23 Jun 2018 | SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland | Retained WBC Silver light-welterweight title |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Winston Campos | TKO | 3 (12), 0:44 | 3 Mar 2018 | SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland | Retained WBC Silver light-welterweight title |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Miguel Vázquez | KO | 9 (12), 2:30 | 11 Nov 2017 | Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland | Retained WBC Silver light-welterweight title |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Ohara Davies | TKO | 7 (12), 2:25 | 8 Jul 2017 | Braehead Arena, Glasgow, Scotland | Retained Commonwealth light-welterweight title; Won WBC Silver light-welterweight title |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Warren Joubert | TKO | 6 (12), 1:27 | 24 Mar 2017 | Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland | Retained Commonwealth light-welterweight title |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Alfonso Olvera | UD | 8 | 28 Jan 2017 | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Dave Ryan | TKO | 5 (12), 2:45 | 21 Oct 2016 | Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland | Won vacant Commonwealth light-welterweight title |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Evincii Dixon | RTD | 2 (8), 3:00 | 30 Jul 2016 | Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, US | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Miguel Alberto González Mena | TKO | 1 (6), 1:33 | 14 May 2016 | Ice Arena Wales, Cardiff, Wales | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Lyes Chaibi | KO | 2 (6), 1:40 | 27 Feb 2016 | Manchester Arena, Manchester, England | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Daniel Cosmin Minescu | TKO | 1 (4), 0:45 | 20 Nov 2015 | Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Adam Mate | TKO | 1 (6), 1:25 | 16 Oct 2015 | Meadowbank Sports Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Archie Weah | TKO | 2 (6), 1:53 | 18 Jul 2015 | Don Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas, US | |

## Titles in boxing
### Major world titles

* WBA (Super) light welterweight champion (140 lbs)
* WBC light welterweight champion (140 lbs)
* IBF light welterweight champion (140 lbs)
* WBO light welterweight champion (140 lbs)

### The Ring magazine titles

* The Ring light welterweight champion (140 lbs)

### Silver world titles

* WBC Silver light welterweight champion (140 lbs)

### Regional/International titles

* Commonwealth light welterweight champion (140 lbs)

### Undisputed titles

* Undisputed light welterweight champion

### Honorary titles

* WBC Diamond light welterweight champion

## Pay-per-view bouts

United Kingdom :
| Date | Fight | Buys | Network |
| 26 October 2019 | Regis Prograis vs. Josh Taylor | 176,000 | Sky Box Office |