WHEN it comes to motivation for professional boxers, the clue is in the job description: they fight for money. There is glory involved, too, of course, when it comes to winning national, international and world titles and Josh Taylor has had his fair share of both.
In May last year he defeated previously unbeaten Californian Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas to become the first Briton to own the belts of all four sanctioning bodies – WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF – simultaneously as he unified the light-welterweight division.
He has won all 19 of his purse fights and been widely acclaimed as the best boxer this country has produced since his idol, Ken Buchanan, was king of the lightweights 50 years ago.
Yet the 31-year-old from Prestonpans has revealed that the most satisfying night of his sporting career did not earn him a penny. Taylor had left the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi with a silver medal but won gold for Scotland in Glasgow four years later and he continues to rank standing at the podium in the Hydro above his more high-profile achievements.
“That was a great occasion, the weather during the Glasgow Games was perfect, almost as hot as it had been in India!” he said. “Once again there was a great atmosphere among the athletes in the Village and the spectators at the events. I didn’t get to sample too much of that, though, because I managed to go all the way to the final again. At least I got to enjoy the party afterwards!
“Getting the gold that time made all the difference, of course. I beat Namibia’s Jonas Junias in the final right after Charlie Flynn had won the gold for us in the flyweight division.
“It was an unbelievable feeling to stand on the podium and sing Flower Of Scotland – in Scotland – with all my family and friends and the rest of the nation singing along with me and watching the flag being raised.
“Obviously, I’ve gone on to enjoy my time in the professional ranks, winning world titles and eventually unifying the 140lb division but I can honestly say that being presented with my medal that night at the SSE Hydro was the proudest moment of my career.
“I knew before the final that I would turn pro if I took the gold. It was the perfect way to bow out.”
Boxing Scotland’s performance director and coach Craig McEvoy was in Taylor’s corner that evening.
“The thing which struck me straight away about him was how focused he is while training. You could set a firework off next to him and he wouldn’t notice,” he said. “Josh’s technical ability and his movement also stood out.
“He’s also one of the mentally toughest fighters I’ve ever come across. He’d picked up a hand injury at the 2012 Olympics and I recall working with him when he boxed a Frenchman not long afterwards.
“Josh won the fight but his left hand would double in size after every bout, turning into a big balloon. He didn’t make a fuss about that, though, he would just stick it into a bucket of ice afterwards until the swelling went back down.
“That hand was his main weapon in the ring but he’d do that after every bout and sparring session for the next two years. He was a joy to train, a Rolls Royce of a boxer.”
Since the inaugural Commonwealth Games in 1930 boxing is the only sport in which Scotland has won a medal each time and the country’s eight-strong team intend to extend that record in Birmingham.
Boxing Scotland’s team for 2022 is Sam Hickey, Reese Lynch, Matthew McHale, Stephen Newns, Tyler Jolly, Lennon Mulligan, Megan Reid, and Sean Lazzerini and McEvoy is quietly confident.
“We couldn’t have a better group of people in place,” he said. “If our boxers go into the ring and come up against something new then we won’t have done our jobs properly but, between us, I think we’ve covered everything.
“They have skill, technique, and tactics but every one of them is willing to go out on their shield if they have to. There is a real belief among them.”
