Taylor: All I had was a dream of becoming a world champion

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There was no sense of an ending. For Josh Taylor all at once it was over.

He had gone to have laser surgery on his eye, a procedure that he was expecting to resolve a lingering issue.

But further examination revealed he in fact had six tears in the retinal tissue. If he’d sparred again – let alone fought, which he was intending to do – another punch could have blinded him in that eye.

Britain’s first and so far only undisputed world champion in the four-belt era, there and then, realised he had to retire.

“My decision was kind of made for me,” Taylor told Sky Sports. “I’m going to end up going blind if I keep on messing around here.

“I’ve got to count my blessings. I’m quite lucky that I haven’t lost my sight already. Get out while I’m ahead,” he added. “I’d much rather get out with my health than go and fight just once more to get a good performance and potentially have damage that’s going to last me the rest of my life.”

Taylor’s place in British boxing history is set. The proud Scotsman turned professional in 2015 and went on a stunning winning run, rapidly ascending to world championship level.

He won his first world title, the IBF belt, when he beat Ivan Baranchyk at the SSE Hydro in 2019, with no less a luminary than pound-for-pound star Naoya Inoue on his undercard.

He unified the WBA and IBF super-lightweight world titles when he beat Regis Prograis in a thrilling battle to win the World Boxing Super Series.

Taylor was crowned undisputed champion when he beat Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas to bring together all four major belts, dropping Ramirez twice in the fight.

“Completed the game. A lot of people were saying retire after becoming undisputed, especially my parents because they know how dangerous boxing is, you’ve completed the game,” the Scotsman said.

“Me being how competitive I am, super competitive, I wanted to achieve more and I wanted to keep fighting on.

“Maybe one more or two more anyway, hopefully get that Easter Road fight and bow out. It wasn’t to be. It wasn’t what was written for me.

“I bow out as the only undisputed champion in the four-belt era from the UK. I’ve had a little bit of time to reflect on my career and I’m very proud, I get a little bit emotional when I think about it.”

His three career defeats came in his last three fights. He met Teofimo Lopez in a memorable WBO super-lightweight title clash at Madison Square Garden, his strong start fading as the American won a unanimous decision.

After their bitterly contentious first fight, Jack Catterall got a revenge win in their rematch last year. In May Ekow Essuman took a unanimous decision victory over him, too.

Taylor’s eye issues had started after the Prograis fight in 2019. “The alignment in the eyes sort of went away. It’s kind of been a recurring problem since then. I had my first surgery after the Ramirez fight and then just had an avalanche of injuries and problems since then,” he said.

“I’ve still been able to compete in the top level. Very, very proud of what I’ve done.”

For all his astonishing professional accomplishments, he actually looks back most fondly on winning the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 11 years ago.

“That was one of the proudest moments of my career – not doing it for myself but doing it for my country. That was one of the proudest moments of my life,” he said.

“I always knew I was going to be a world champion. So when I done it I was like ‘right what next’. That’s task accomplished, what are we doing now. I was always ‘what are we doing now’ and chasing.

“I’ve always been looking forward to what’s next.

“I’m going to really miss the chase and the hunting. It’s been some ride – the best memories of my life, the ups and the downs. It’s been a hell of a rollercoaster ride.”

Taylor always received an extraordinary reception from his supporters in Scotland. Making his ringwalk for his first fight with Catterall in Glasgow, with all four of his newly won world titles, was an epic moment.

“It was unbelievable, the noise coming home after becoming undisputed world champion and the atmosphere was unreal,” Taylor recalled.

“Now looking back in hindsight I wish I’d stood there for 20, 30 seconds, maybe up to a minute and just stood and absorbed it all. Because when you watch all these fights back and listen to the crowd and the atmosphere, it’s unbelievable.

“Just the roar and the crowd and the noise, it’s something that I’m going to miss, it’s something that I’m going to hugely miss. It’s going to take something to get used to normal life without having something to chase.”

It’s a lot to leave behind. “It’s going to be tough. I don’t know how rough it’s going to be for the next little while,” he said. “It’s all I’ve known for over 20 years, my whole life has been boxing, travelling away all over the world as an amateur, winning medals.

“Travelling the world with my friends in boxing, see all these different cultures, and foods and music, just amazing, now it’s just been taken away…

“This last 20 years, it’s been amazing, boxing’s given me so much life experience, it’s been unreal.”

The loss of that, the loss of that purpose, that driving inspiration, is for the time being raw. The strange thing about being a boxer, especially a world champion, is this sport is not just something you do, it’s what you are. The fighting, the adulation, the pain, the suffering, the training, the targets, the winning, the losing, even the breaks – resting is recovering from and for boxing. Then it’s all gone.

“All of a sudden though,” Taylor sighed, “now I can go and maybe start living life a little bit.”

But he reflected: “It was the best life. I was living my dream. I was living my dream to become a professional boxer.

“I had nothing but a dream, I didn’t have two pence to rub together. The only thing I had was a dream of becoming a world champion and chasing it and that’s all I’ve done for the last 20 odd years.

“It’s come to an end now and I’m just… right now it feels like my world’s caved in, but there’s so much positive and I’ve had people remind me of that over the last couple of weeks. It’s been quite tough but it’s been good.”

Sitting in his living room as he spoke, he looked over at the wall opposite, with all those world title belts he’d won along the way on display. He’ll always have those and now his own place now in British boxing folklore.

“You done okay for a little boy from Prestonpans,” he told himself. “I’ve done okay. And I’ve got that to remind me.”

This news was originally published on this post .

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