JOSH TAYLOR will be a changed man when he steps into the ring at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on Saturday night.
In his first fight since a bruising defeat to Jack Catterall 12 months ago, not only is Taylor competing for the first time as a welterweight, he’s also been working on his mind.
It’s all part of his bid to become a two-weight world champion and to prove wrong those who say his career as a top-level fighter is over.
Mail Sport caught up with the former undisputed light-welterweight champion at his Liverpool training camp ahead of the fight.
He’s determined to reach peak physical fitness and keep his focus as he seeks to beat WBO European welterweight champion Ekow Essuman.
On top of that, the 34-year Tartan Tornado has been working with mind coach Vinny Shoreman who has helped him build his self-belief to an all-time high.
Josh Taylor during the official weigh-in ahead of his welter-weight fight against Ekow Essuman
Josh Taylor and Ekow Essuman face off at Friday’s weigh-in
‘A big shout out to Vinny,’ says Taylor of Shoreman, whose website includes a testimonial from eight times Thai boxing champion Liam Harrison.
‘Vinny’s made a great difference to me, you know, not just for boxing, but just in my life in general.
‘Obviously, there’s some personal issues and stuff that have been bugging me for a while and – to be able to speak about it openly and get it off your chest and not have to carry burdens and things – it’s been a great weight lifted off my shoulders.’
Edinburgh-born Taylor extols the benefits of positive self-talk and is a firm believer in the power of ‘manifesting’.
Describing how he incorporates it into his everyday life, he says: ‘Anywhere I am – if I’m in the kitchen, in the house, or a hotel room, or a bar, if there’s a bit of paper and a pen there, I write it down: “Josh Taylor, two-weight world champion” and leave it about for folk to see. It’s the vision, making myself believe it.’
Taylor has taken a huge confidence boost from the changes he has made in his life and from his increased strength and weight as he prepares for his first welterweight fight.
How does he feel about getting in the ring with Botswana-born Englishman Essuman, nicknamed The Engine due to his power and relentless fighting style? The two men represented Team GB in the amateur ranks where they trained and competed together.
‘I’m confident, I’m excited,’ says Taylor. ‘It’s going to be a tough fight. I know what he’s going to bring. He’s going to bring action and aggression. I’m looking forward to a good dust-up. I’m expecting a real tough, hard, gruelling fight. And that’s what I’m preparing for mentally, Rocky Balboa kind of stuff.’
Josh Taylor shows off his belts after defeating Jack Caterall in February 2022
Englishman Catterall defeated Taylor in the rematch in May 2024
Ever since he won a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Taylor says the city has been his favourite place to box. ‘It’s always good to come back home to Scotland and perform in front of my home fans.’
His friends and family will be out in force, including his parents, his younger sister, cousins, uncles and aunts, and wife Danielle whom he married in 2022 at a lavish ceremony at Kinmount House in Dumfries and Galloway. ‘There’s going to be a full house,’ he adds.
Taylor is enjoying eating and weight training more than he could afford to as a light-welterweight. It’s gone 2.30pm when we talk, and he’s trying to keep his thoughts from straying to his stomach. He hasn’t eaten since breakfast and, after a full-on morning in the gym, he is ravenous.
‘Normally I’d have been into physio, maybe had a bit of a lie down and got a bite to eat by now,’ he says. ‘In the normal world, seven pounds is nothing but, in boxing, it’s a hell of a lot of weight, especially when you’re used to making 140 lbs, which you’re real tight and unnatural at. So, seven pounds is a lot of weight to play with.
‘I can afford to do a little bit more strength training now and put on a little bit of muscle because I’m moving up to 147lbs, and I don’t have to restrict myself as much now in terms of the calories that I have in my meal plans. I can really focus on getting strength and putting on a little bit of muscle. Add in a little bit of weight on the belt with the pull ups and stuff. I can afford to do that now. I’m thoroughly enjoying it.’
Despite losing the last of his world belts to American Teofimo Lopez in 2023, Taylor has seen his income soar. The most recent accounts filed for his company Laser Sports declared total assets of over £4.5million. He has come a long way since he first stepped into Terry McCormack’s Lochend Boxing Club – a wooden hut in Edinburgh – as a 16-year-old with a passion for boxing and a drive to succeed.
Today the club boasts on its social media accounts that it is home to Taylor and ‘a gym for all’.
On the phone from Los Angeles, McCormack says: ‘Josh is a born winner. Any exercises in the gym or drills we did, he always wanted to be the best. He’s always had the drive. And he’s never forgotten his roots. He comes back to the gym in Lochend and it’s like he’s never been the undisputed world champion.
Taylor insists he has learned lessons from last year’s defeat to Jack Catterall
‘All the kids look up to him. When he comes back here to train, you see him with the kids. He’s stopped his own training to help them, spending 30 minutes with them, showing them what to do. He’s seen what boxing has done for him. He had nothing when he first walked through our doors. He had a dream, and he chased that dream and that’s really inspiring for the kids.’
Key to fulfilling his dream of becoming a two-weight world champion, says Taylor, is not to get ahead of himself. It’s a lesson he learned from his undisputed lightwelterweight title defence against Catterall in 2022, when he won in controversial circumstances, only for the Englishman to finally take revenge last year.
‘That was the mistake I made against Jack Catterall,’ he says. ‘I was looking too far ahead. I’ve learned from my mistakes. So, I’m focused on living in the moment and taking one thing at a time. A lot of that is down to maturity and the adversity I’ve been through, you learn from it. I’ve been through a hell of a lot.’
When he’s training, Taylor enjoys listening to music to help him get in the right headspace.’ I like Northern Soul, Creedence Clearwater Revival, 60s, 70s, and 80s is great, and I love the 90s dance music. I listen to a lot of older music, you can get in a good rhythm. I’m not a fan of the new stuff.’
Though determined not to look too far ahead, Taylor has ambitions for the future and speaks passionately about his desire to inspire and support the next generation.
‘I’d like to open a gym fitness centre that’s boxing-based in Prestonpans where I come from. Because there’s nothing, all these youth clubs and sports facilities, your five-a-side pitches and all that, they’re all locked now and you have to pay to book to get on.
Josh Taylor is keen to give back to the Prestonpans community he came from
‘When I was a kid, the five-a-sides, they were open all day every day, you didn’t need to pay or book them. Even in the winter, the floodlights were on every night
‘That’s not really there now in the community where I’m from, so I’d like to try and make a difference, maybe open these places back up for the kids.
‘It would give them somewhere to go and somewhere to release their energy and maybe even find their inspiration to think: “Oh I like this, I could do this”.’
That would be the ultimate dream for a man who has never forgotten his roots.
After a string of sensational victories, and a couple of punishing defeats, Taylor is upbeat about the challenges ahead.
‘At this stage of my career, everything that happens from here is a bonus. We’ll win this fight, and then we’ll see what’s out there. I’m in the sport to be the best and to be the best that I can be. I still feel that I can do that. The hunger and desire are still there, and that’s why I’m here.’
