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josh taylor

'the tartan tornado'

Nation

uk

Date of birth

January 2, 1991 (32 Years Old)

Height

5 ft 10 (178 cm)

Reach

69.5 in (177 cm)

Wins

19

Losses

1

Ko's

13

josh taylor bio

Josh Taylor

'the tartan tornado'

Nation

uk

DATE OF BIRTH​

January 2, 1991 (32 Years Old)

Height

5 FT 10 (178 CM)

REACH​

69.5 in (177 cm)

wins

19

Losses

1

ko's

13

Titles Won

WBA (super) world junior welterweight
WBC world junior welterweight
WBO world junior welterweight
IBF world junior welterweight

The Ring lineal junior welterweight

WBC silver junior welterweight
Commonwealth junior welterweight

Titles Won

WBA (super) world junior welterweight
WBC world junior welterweight
WBO world junior welterweight
IBF world junior welterweight

The Ring lineal junior welterweight

WBC silver junior welterweight
Commonwealth junior welterweight

Background

Josh Taylor proved to be a talented prospect in his days as an amateur. He corralled in a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games while also earning several silver medals at the same tournament and others such as the Commonwealth Youth Games and the GB Championships.

When not winning medals, he still competed in various other competitions, including the Scottish National Championships, the AIBA World Championships and the World Series of Boxing. He also faced prospects who would become solid contenders in the professional ranks of boxing, including the likes of Robson Conceicao, Martin Ward, Jamel Herring and Jeff Horn.

After an amateur career of 74 fights where he manage to win 50 times, he finally turned professional in 2015.

josh taylor background

Accomplishments

Josh Taylor became noticeable early on as a Junior Welterweight due to his string of stoppage or knockout victories. He challenged for his first title (Commonwealth) around a year after his debut, finishing fellow British boxer Dave Ryan by stoppage in the fifth round to win his belt.

The next several years he continued his good and unbeaten form. Success would culminate when he entered the WBSS tournament in 2018. He conquered the IBF Junior Welterweight title to become a world champion for the first time in the semi-final of the tournament, and in 2019 he won against another top fighter in his division, Regis Prograis, to earn the WBA and The Ring titles, which succesfully made him a unified champion in his division. 

To round off becoming undisputed, Taylor faced Jose Ramirez in 2021 for his WBC and WBO world titles, and successfully managed to beat the latter by UD. On February 26th in 2022, Taylor remained unbeaten following a fight against Jack Catterall, but he did not remain unscathed judging by his appearance following the bout, and the match was considered controversial due to the judges’ scorecards and their split decision result – the latter of which many thought that Jack Catterall had earned instead.

Josh Taylor returned to the ring in 2023 on June 10th against Super Lightweight contender Teofimo Lopez. Taylor would go on to lose his match against Lopez, losing by UD in the process, and suffered his first career loss as well as his IBF and The Ring Super Lightweight titles.

Boxing Style

josh taylor boxing style

Dubbed as the ‘Tartan Tornado’, Josh Taylor exemplifies this through his southpaw-stanced style of boxing where he applies relentless pressure to his opponents. Not only does his intensity provide problems to his combatants, his southpaw stance – opposed to the orthodox stance of the average boxer – makes it that much more difficult for his opponents to deal with. 

He has also earned his nickname due to the wide variety in punches he can throw with his combinations. In order to be able to be effective both inside and outside, Taylor has developed his footwork – and the ability to position his body accurately – to elite levels. Alongside his strong offense, he has cultivated decent level of defensive skills where he’s shown to be able to use angles to ward off major damage, or avoid damage entirely. Despite him being a natural Southpaw of sorts, he can also switch stances to fight in the orthodox stance, if needed.