Josh Taylor has officially retired from boxing and will go down as one of the best fighters in British history.
Taylor was forced to retire at the age of 34 due to an ongoing eye issue, saying that he was at risk of ‘losing his eyesight’ if he chose to carry on.
He continued to say: “Whilst the fighter in me always wants to box on, I know I have to listen to the medical professionals and save me from myself. It is certainly not the way I wanted to bow out, but I have to listen to the doctors and those around me.”
The British star has earned plenty of accolades and his big moment came in 2021, where he wrote himself into boxing folklore.
Josh Taylor became the first British unified champion of the four-belt era
His big moment came against Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas on 22 May 2021 to become the undisputed champion of the light welterweight belts.
Ramirez was the WBO and WBC champion but was no match for Taylor on the night who delivered two brutal left-hand blows to knock him down in the sixth and seventh rounds respectively.
As a result, Taylor was crowned the winner by unanimous decision in which all three judges scored the bout 114–112 in his favour.
The win also put Taylor into the history books after becoming the first British boxer to become an undisputed champion in the four-belt era and only the fifth in the sport’s history to do so after Terence Crawford, Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor and Oleksandr Usyk.
He also became the second Scotsman to become an undisputed champion after Ken Buchanan.
Josh Taylor’s boxing record
Sadly for Taylor, his final three fights ended in defeat but that shouldn’t take away from what a glorious career he has had.
Throughout his career, Taylor fought 22 times, winning 19 and losing three of them, facing big names like Jack Catterall twice and Teofimo Lopez.
| Fights | 22 |
| Wins | 19 |
| Losses | 3 |
| Wins by KO | 13 |
| Wins by Decision | 6 |
13 of his 19 victories came via knockout too and he will be known as one of the stars of British boxing for years to come.