Josh Taylor (born 2 January 1991) is a Scottish

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. He is a former undisputed

light-welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

champion, having held the

International Boxing Federation The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts. The others are the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing C ...

(IBF) and

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded ...

(WBA) ( Super version) titles between 2019 and 2022, the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

(WBC) title between 2021 and 2022, the

World Boxing Organisation The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

(WBO) title between 2021 and 2023 and the ''Ring'' magazine title between 2019 and 2023. At regional level, he held the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

light-welterweight title from 2016 to 2017. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, he won a

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

silver medal at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

and light-welterweight gold at the 2014 edition. From May 2021 to May 2022, Taylor reigned as the undisputed

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 The motorcycle sport of racing (also called moto racing and motorbike racing) includes motorcycle road racing and off-road racing, both either on circuits or open courses, and track racing. Other categories include hill climbs, drag racing and ...

, and "dreamed about being a world champion superbike racer or a world champion

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...

racer"; he named motorcycle racers

Valentino Rossi Valentino Rossi ( ; ; born 16 February 1979) is an Italian racing driver, former professional motorcycle road racer and nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. Nicknamed "the Doctor", Rossi is widely considered one of the greate ...

and

Steve Hislop Robert Steven Hislop (11 January 1962 – 30 July 2003) was a Scottish motorcycle racer. Hislop won at the Isle of Man TT eleven times, was the British 250cc Champion (1990) and lifted the British Superbike championship on two occasions (199 ...

as his childhood heroes.

Amateur career

Taylor was a junior

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

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 Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. Taylor won a silver medal in the

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, where he was beaten by Thomas Stalker in the

final by 11–3. Following the European Qualifying Event in

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

, Turkey, the ACB Lochend boxer qualified for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, losing to number two seed

Domenico Valentino Domenico Valentino (born 17 May 1984 in Marcianise) is a boxer from Italy. The hard punching Valentino won a bronze medal at lightweight at the 2004 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Pula, Croatia. He participated in the 2004 Summer Ol ...

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 Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 1956 and a bronze in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

at the following games. He reached a Commonwealth Games final again in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, this time at

. Taylor won the gold medal, defeating Junias Jonas of Namibia in the final. Taylor also represented the

British Lionhearts The British Lionhearts are a British amateur boxing team that competed in the World Series Boxing tournament. History The British Lionhearts are an amateur team that was established in 2012 to compete in the third season of the World Series Box ...

at the

World Series of Boxing 250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards. The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...

Professional career

Early career

Taylor started his professional career in June 2015, signing with

Barry McGuigan Finbar Patrick "Barry" McGuigan MBE (born 28 February 1961) is an Irish boxing promoter and former professional boxer. Born in Clones, County Monaghan, McGuigan was nicknamed ''The Clones Cyclone'' and held the WBA and lineal featherweight ...

's Cyclone Promotions, and was trained by

Shane McGuigan Shane James McGuigan (born November 1988) is a British and Irish boxing trainer. His gym is based in South West London. Background Born in Milton Keynes, England, McGuigan is the son of Irish former featherweight world champion Barry McGuigan ...

. Taylor made his debut in July 2015, defeating Archie Weah with a second round

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

(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 A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

(KO). His KO streak came to an end against Alfonso Olvera, who went eight rounds with Taylor at the

MGM Grand Garden Arena The MGM Grand Garden Arena is a 17,000-seat multi-purpose arena within the MGM Grand Las Vegas, MGM Grand resort, located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The venue opened on December 31, 1993, with a concert by Barbra Streisand, and s ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

on 28 January 2017. Taylor won the fight by

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

(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 Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. 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 Armando Humberto Soto Ochoa (born May 11, 1980), best known as Humberto Soto, is a Mexican professional boxer. A veteran of the sport for over 20 years, he is a former world champion in two weight class (boxing), weight classes, having held the ...

on 3 March 2018, at the

SSE Hydro The OVO Hydro is a multi-purpose indoor arena located within the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland. The arena was initially named The Scottish Hydro Arena after its main sponsor Scottish Hydro Electric. During construction, Scottish ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. 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

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 Anthony Yigit (born 1 September 1991) is a Swedish professional boxer who challenged for the IBF light welterweight title in 2018. As an amateur, following his success in 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships, Yigit qualified for the 2012 Su ...

, Ivan Baranchyk and WBA champion, Kiryl Relikh in the eight man tournament.

Taylor vs Martin

At a gala held in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, 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 A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (at ...

(MD) in the final of the World Boxing Super Series at

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as The O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment district on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London, England. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the third-highest seat ...

on 26 October 2019. The fight was shown live on

Sky Sports Box Office Sky Box Office is Sky's pay-per-view (PPV) system operated in the United Kingdom and Ireland. There were three branded divisions of Sky Box Office – Sky Cinema Box Office, Sky Sports Box Office and Sky 3D Box Office. Until 1 February 2011, th ...

. 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 Top Rank, Inc. is a boxing promotional company founded by Jabir Herbert Muhammad and Bob Arum, which was incorporated in 1973, and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since its founding, Top Rank has promoted many world class fighters, including M ...

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 The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure centre in Bethnal Green, London. The building opened in 1929 and it is most famous as an international boxing venue with the first nights o ...

, 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 Paradise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the ...

, 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 Ken Buchanan (28 June 1945 – 1 April 2023) was a Scottish professional boxer who competed between 1965 and 1982. He held multiple championships at lightweight; the World Boxing Association (WBA) and ''Ring'' magazine titles from 1970 to 197 ...

); 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 Bernard Hopkins Jr. (born January 15, 1965) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2016. He is one of the most successful boxers of the past three decades, having held multiple world championships in two weight class ...

Jermain Taylor Jermain Taylor (born August 11, 1978) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2014. He remains the most recent undisputed champion in the middleweight division, having defeated Bernard Hopkins in 2005, and in doing s ...

Terence Crawford Terence Allan Crawford (born September 28, 1987) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple quadruple champion#Boxing, world championships in four weight classes, from lightweight to light middleweight, including the undisputed cha ...

and

Oleksandr Usyk Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk (, ; born 17 January 1987) is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held the unified champion (boxing), unified heavyweight championship since 2021, and the ''The Ring (magazine), Ring'' magazine title since 2022 ...

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 Jack Catterall (born 1 July 1993) is an English professional boxer. He challenged for the undisputed light-welterweight title in 2022. At regional level, he has held multiple light-welterweight championships, including the British title from 2 ...

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 Ivanson Ranny "Johnny" Nelson (born 4 January 1967) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 2005. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight title from 1999 to 2006, and remains t ...

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 Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company founded in 1988. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Business operations are led from its headquarters in Dublin, alongside a satellite office ...

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

world champion

Teofimo Lopez Teófimo Andrés López Rivera (born July 30, 1997) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and '' The Ring'' junior welterweight titles s ...

on 10 June at the

Hulu Theater The Theater at Madison Square Garden is a theater located in New York City's Madison Square Garden (MSG). It seats between 2,000 and 5,600 people and is used for concerts, shows, sports, meetings, and other events. It is situated beneath the main ...

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

in a rematch. He lost the fight by unanimous decision with the scores 117-111, 117-111 and 116-113.

Taylor vs. Essuman

Moving up to

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

, Taylor lost to Ekow Essuman by unanimous decision at the

in Glasgow on 24 May 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 Edinburgh Sheriff Court is a sheriff court in Chambers Street in Edinburgh, within the sheriffdom of Edinburgh and Borders. History Until the mid-1990s, hearings took place in the Justiciary Building, Edinburgh, Old Sheriff Court in the Lawnma ...

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

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

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

IBF light welterweight champion This is a chronological List of World Super Lightweight/Light Welterweight/Junior Welterweight Boxing Champions, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations: * The World Boxing Association (WBA), founded in 1921 as the Nati ...

(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 Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

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

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

*
Profile
on

AIBA The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is a sports organization that sanctions amateur and professional boxing matches and awards world and subordinate championships. ...

Josh Taylor - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Josh 1991 births Scottish people of Irish descent Living people Scottish male boxers Sportspeople from Prestonpans People educated at Preston Lodge High School Lightweight boxers Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Great Britain Boxers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Scotland Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Scotland Commonwealth Boxing Council champions World Boxing Association champions International Boxing Federation champions World Boxing Council champions World Boxing Organization champions The Ring (magazine) champions Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games 21st-century Scottish sportsmen Commonwealth Games silver medallists in boxing Commonwealth Games gold medallists in boxing