Josh admits he’s been left clutching a begging bowl after urging Teo Lopez to grant him a shot at winning his belts back, writes Andy Newport from New York .
The Scot surrendered his WBO and Ring Magazine light welterweight titles to the slick American in the early hours of Sunday morning. Their showdown at Madison Square Gardens was supposed to be a night that enshrined former undisputed champ Taylor’s legacy as he walked out at the Mecca of Boxing in New York.
But it turned out to be a nightmare as the Brooklyn brawler dominated on his way to securing an unanimous points win. The devastated Tartan Tornado admits he may have to step up to 147kg after complaining he lacked strength in his legs from the middle rounds onwards. But he’s willing to hang around at light welterweight if Lopez grants him a rematch. He said: “Listen, he’s the champion and he gets to decide what happens next. I’d love to do it again. The ball is in his court. If he wants to do it again, I’m up for it. I’d love to do it again - and I’d beat him the next time."
Taylor even paid a visit to his opponent’s dressing room after their bout, which was scored 115-113, 115-113, 117-111 in the American’s favour, to encourage a sequel. However, that appears unlikely with Lopez’ promoters Top Rank expected to pursue more lucrative fights on offer against American rivals. And Lopez, 25, says there’s even a chance he could opt for retirement after admitting he’s struggled to deal with strains of a messy divorce.
Taylor isn’t sure he believes that, saying: “Will he retire? Maybe. I know he’s got a lot of personal issues so you never now. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted to go fight Devin Haney and become undisputed world champion. The ball is in his court. If he wants to do it all again I’m more than happy to oblige him. All I can do is sit and wait. I’m not the champ anymore. I’m the one with the begging bowl out."
Whatever happens next, Taylor doesn’t want a repeat of the 15-month lay-off he endured between before his painful Stateside set-back. He had been due to face Jack Catterall in a rematch following last year’s hotly-disputed win over the Englishman before injuries and contract wrangles forced delays and then fatefully a change of opponent to Lopez.
“Absolutely, I want to get back at it as soon as I can,” he said. “I think my future is at welterweight but I’m not blaming the weight cut for what happened on Saturday night. But I do think my future is at 147lbs.”
Against Catterall, Taylor was left looking drained after struggling to get down to 140kg but this time he was easily inside the limit by the time of Friday’s weigh-in. He and his team were left in stitches as Lopez, on the other hand, had to strip naked in order to make the weight. But it was the home fighter who had the last laugh as he repeatedly wobbled Taylor’s legs with a powerful performance.
“I just never had the same energy levels the other night,” confessed Taylor. “Would moving up give me that power back? Absolutely. I felt from four or five rounds in my legs go a little bit. Usually in the championship rounds that’s when I’m strong, that’s when I pile the pressure on. But I just never had that in the final stages and it was evident in the last two rounds. I lost the championship rounds.”
Taylor was cheered on by hundreds of Scots inside MSG and paid tribute to his backers, adding: “I just want to say thanks for all the support I’ve had up until this point. And I want to especially thank all the fans that travelled over to New York, spending their hard-earned money to come all this way to America to support me fight. They’ve come all this way and I’m just sorry I couldn’t repay them with a victory and a trip that would leave them all with special memories.”
