Josh Taylor has described the “struggles” he has endured since announcing his retirement from boxing.
The 35-year-old announced that he had fought for the final time in the aftermath of his defeat by Ekow Essuman in May because of a recurring eye injury. The fight was his first at welterweight but after a decorated career in which he established himself as one of Britain’s finest ever fighters it also represented his third defeat in a row.
Taylor became Britain’s first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis when he won all four titles at junior welterweight. Teofimo Lopez ended his reign as WBO champion and inflicted his first defeat in 2023; he then suffered a further defeat in his rematch with Jack Catterall little over a year later.
It was partly owing to Lopez’s fight on Saturday with Shakur Stevenson – Stevenson won via unanimous decision – that Taylor again found himself in demand.
He hopes that further opportunities to work as a pundit will help him to remain in the sport that has defined his life and help to fill the void that was once filled by training and fighting. He is also considering entering management, but similarly sees the value in the time he has finally been able to devote to those closest to him in a way that he has never previously been able to do.
“It’s been a little bit of a struggle,” the Scot told BoxingScene. “[I’m] up and down, finding what I’m gonna do – my next purpose. A lot of it is a little bit of frustration and being a little bit gutted with the way it ended with my injuries, and then Covid – I got chopped down in my prime with Covid rules. That’s a little bit frustrating, rather than anything – that I was in my main momentum and it got taken away from me, really.
“I’m getting little gigs doing punditry and stuff. That’ll be good – as long as I’m still involved in the game in some sort of way. I need to be in among it some way. I might help manage a fighter or two, ‘cause I know how the game works and how to get things done. But I’ve not really figured out what I’m gonna do yet. I’m just enjoying a little bit of downtime; time to spend with my family and my wife [Danielle] that I haven’t been able to be able to do for the last 20-odd years.
“We’ve spent more time together in the last six months than we have our whole relationship, which is a pleasure, so I’ve been enjoying spending time with my wife and going to see my family when I want and I can. It’s always been sporadic; it’s always been home for a couple of weeks and then I’m away for six months. Or I’m home for a week and then I’m away for three weeks. I’ve never really been home for an extended period of time – this is the first time I’ve really spent time at home.”
Taylor became a unified champion when in October 2019 he so entertainingly defeated the then-undefeated Regis Prograis, who was then in his prime. Owing to the Covid pandemic his next fight didn’t follow for 11 months, and was staged in the small hall of London’s York Hall.
When he fought Jose Carlos Ramirez for the undisputed title in May 2021 he was unable to win in front of the significant crowd an occasion of that nature deserved. It was thereafter, in two fights with Catterall and the contests with Lopez and Essuman, that his career and his health then unravelled.
“My house that I bought, after the Prograis fight – collectively this is the most I’ve been in it, ever,” he explained. “Since I retired.
“It’s the most I’ve been at home. ‘Fucking hell – I’m enjoying being at home.’ It’s a luxury for me – being at home. I’m still adjusting to home life. I’ve lived out of a suitcase and a bag for the last 20 years, so I’m adjusting to being at home and enjoying it a little bit. [But] I’m soon getting bored being at home, doing nothing and twiddling my thumbs, so it’s a catch 22 [laughs].
“I’m hopefully doing a bit more punditry in the next couple of months, so hopefully that leads to a little bit more work, doing that kind of stuff, ‘cause I do like doing that.
“[But] it’s been a great ride. Memories that’s gonna last the rest of my life.”
