Although he happens to be 0-2 in his last two fights, and some will say he should be 0-3, Scotland’s Josh Taylor was not long ago considered Britain’s best boxer. As a world junior welterweight champion, he defeated high-level opponents, won a total of three belts, and was very much the full package, someone whose name was destined to rank alongside the likes of Ken Buchanan in the pantheon of great Scottish fighters.
Then, however, Taylor squeaked by Jack Catterall in a highly controversial world title defence in 2022 and nothing was quite the same after that. Even in victory, there was doubt, suspicion, disappointment, and many were quick to get on Taylor’s back and criticise him for not granting Catterall, the so-called “people’s champion”, an immediate rematch. The following year Taylor ran into more trouble when he was dethroned by Teofimo Lopez in New York and suddenly, with his unbeaten record and his titles gone, the wheels came off. By the time he then rematched Catterall in 2024, the fight was not only far less appealing than it would have been in 2022, but it was also a fight robbed of its prestige. It came as no surprise therefore that Catterall got the win he perhaps should have got the first time around.
Since that defeat, Taylor, 19-2 (13), has had to reassess both his past and his future ahead of a comeback fight on Saturday against Ekow Essuman. He has, in fact, given up on super-lightweight entirely and instead chosen to campaign as a welterweight from now on. It is there he will fight Essuman, a former British champion at that weight, at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro. It is also there that Taylor can start afresh, with a clean slate, and forget his recent run of form as a super-lightweight.
And yet, for as much as Taylor will want to forget, it is just as important that he remembers; remembers how it feels to win; remembers how it feels to be dominant; remembers how it feels to be a champion. After all, in only 21 pro fights Taylor has already managed to pack in a lot and achieve a considerable amount. The question is, can he now return to the heights of old as a 34-year-old welterweight?
As we wait to find out, here is a list of Josh Taylor’s 10 most impressive wins to date:
1) Jose Ramirez
In an effort to prove his dominance at super-lightweight, Taylor travelled to America during a global pandemic and went toe-to-toe with fellow titleholder Ramirez in 2021. He lived to tell the tale, too, dropping Ramirez twice en route to a decision win.
2) Regis Prograis
Taylor and Prograis met in the final of the 2019 World Boxing Super Series, with both unbeaten. Twelve rounds later, we had seen an undeniable classic full of two-way action and we had seen Taylor, the victor, come away with his zero still intact.
3) Ivan Baranchyk
To win his first world title Taylor had to extinguish the considerable threat of Russian hard man Baranchyk, who took the fight to the Scot in 2019 but had no answer to his superior ring craft and boxing ability.
4) Viktor Postol
A serious step up in class at the time, Taylor showed no signs of nerves when outboxing Postol, a former world champion, in 2018. He took a unanimous decision at the fight’s conclusion.
5) Miguel Vazquez
This fight in 2017 was Taylor’s first against a former world titleholder and he passed the test with flying colours, becoming the first man to stop Vazquez when finishing him in round nine.
6) Ohara Davies
Back in 2017, the year this fight took place, Davies and Taylor were considered competitive rivals. No one felt that way once Taylor got hold of Davies and stopped him in seven rounds, however.
7) Ryan Martin
Considered something of a prospect going in, American Martin was undefeated in 22 fights but still no match for Taylor, who dominated and stopped him in seven rounds back in 2018.
8) Jack Catterall
Taylor’s split decision win against Catterall in 2022 was not only controversial but also the last “win” Taylor has been able to celebrate. Of course, if it wasn’t for its contentious nature, beating Catterall would rank a lot higher on this list, but even with the rematch eventually taking place – a fight Catterall won in 2024 – the bitter taste of that initial split decision still lingers.
9) Wiston Campos
An unknown short-notice sub from Nicaragua, Campos got the chance to fight Taylor in 2018 only to find himself dropped twice in the second round and stopped in the third.
10) Dave Ryan
In what was Taylor’s first pro title fight, he broke apart a game Ryan inside five rounds to rip from him his Commonwealth super-lightweight belt in 2016.