Josh Taylor (boxer)

Josh Taylor (born 2 January 1991) is a Scottish professional boxer. Taylor turned professional in 2015 after an amateur career taking in selection for the 2012 Olympics and winning the gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the light welterweight division.

Josh Taylor
Born	2 January 1991 (age 33)[1] Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland[2]
Nationality	Scottish
Other names	the tartan tornado
Statistics
Weight(s)	Super-lightweight
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Reach	69+1⁄2 in (177 cm)
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	12
Wins	12
Wins by KO	11
Losses	0
Draws	0
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Representing  Scotland Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow Light-welterweight 2010 Delhi Lightweight Commonwealth Youth Games 2008 Pune Lightweight

Taylor was a junior taekwando champion, and turned to boxing at 15 under coach Terry McCormack of Lochend ABC in Edinburgh.^[3] 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.^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[6] He reached a Commonwealth Games final again in 2014,^[7] this time at light welterweight. Taylor won the gold medal, defeating Junias Jonas of Namibia in the final.^[8] Taylor also represented the British Lionhearts at the World Series of Boxing.^[9]

Taylor started his professional career in June 2015, signing with Barry McGuigan's Cyclone Promotions, and is trained by Shane McGuigan.^[3][10][11] Taylor made his debut in July 2015, defeating Archie Weah with a second round technical knockout.

On his seventh fight, Taylor picked up the Commonwealth light welterweight title by beating Dave Ryan with a round 5 stoppage. Ryan went down twice over the course of the bout. Ryan had previously held the title between 2014 and 2015.^[12] Taylor won his first seven fights by knockout. His streak came to an end against Alfonso Olvera, who went 8 rounds with Taylor at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on January 2017. Taylor won the fight by unanimous decision (79-72, 78-73, 78-73). On 24 March Taylor defended his Commonwealth title for the first time, beating Warren Joubert with a round 6 TKO, after hurting him several times with left hooks. Joubert went down in round 6 and his corner threw in the towel.^[13]

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.^[14] He stopped Davies, dropping him once in round 3 and twice in round 7 before the referee halted the contest.^[15]

Taylor defended his WBC Silver title against former lightweight world champion Miguel Vázquez on 11 November at the Royal Highland Centre.^[16] Although Vázquez's style seem to pose problems for Taylor early on, Taylor wore him down as the fight went on. Vázquez went down in round 9 from body shots, and he failed to beat the count. This was Vázquez's first stoppage loss.^[17]

On 18 January 2018 it was confirmed that Taylor would defend his WBC Silver super lightweight title against veteran Humberto Soto on 3 March 2018, at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow.^[18] 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, Nicaraguan Winston Campos was announced as his replacement.^[19]

• Boxing at the 2012 Summer Olympics

• Boxing record for Josh Taylor from BoxRec (registration required)
• Profile on AIBA