Josh Taylor should have been defending his two world titles on Saturday, but instead of performing at a packed Hydro in Glasgow, he will spend this weekend at home with his girlfriend and pet dog waiting for news of when he will next step into the ring and trying to make sure that when he does get to box again, he doesn’t let everything that he has worked so hard for slip away.
Go back just a few weeks and Taylor’s future was all mapped out – defend his WBA and IBF super-lightweight titles against Apinun Khongsong before a battle for all the belts against Jose Ramirez.
The world is on hold now, though. Taylor and his new trainer, Ben Davison, had been training in Las Vegas, where Davison’s other charge, Billy Joe Saunders, was getting ready for a date (also this weekend) with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. But the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to both fights.
The next time Taylor steps into a ring, there is a real possibility there will be no fans in the arena.
“I’m a little bit ticked off that I was supposed to be fighting this weekend, I’m gutted about that, I put a lot of money in going up and down to Manchester (where he was working with Davison) and travelling to America,” Taylor said. “Everyone is in the same boat, as an old fighter once said, you just have to roll with the punches and get on with it.
“I’ve not had any contact yet about when I might be fighting, I’m probably in the same position as everyone else. I expected to be looking forward to a lot of big fights and I’ve got used to boxing in front of big crowds, but if I have to box behind closed doors next time then so be it.”
Every boxer is waiting right now and Taylor knows he must deal with Khongsong, his IBF mandatory contender, at some point. If it turns out being in a sterile atmosphere, he knows he must not be caught out be the lack of occasion.
“I’m used to those big events and big crowds now,” he said. “That adds a little bit of excitement and nerves. It might not be that easy to get up for a behind-closed-doors event, but at the same time my titles would be on the line.
“I look back to my own amateur experience. I boxed at some big multi nations tournaments and there wouldn’t have been more than 200 people in the hall and there were two rings going.
“Some of my biggest wins were in front of next to nobody. People remember me boxing at the London Olympics or winning Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow, but I qualified for the Olympics in Turkey [in Trabzon] and there were only people from other teams there and a few locals there. At the time that was the biggest win of my career.
“I would rather have it in a big arena with everything that goes on with that. But if that wasn’t going to happen, I’d have to use my experience and adapt. I will have to get the job done because if I lose my titles that is my plans up in smoke.”
For now, Taylor is training alone. He leaves his home, to the east of Edinburgh, only to run and walk his dog.
“I’m still training,” Taylor said. “My old amateur coach, Terry (McCormack), gave me the keys for my old amateur club, Lochend. There was just myself and my girlfriend in the gym, I was doing my training and going home. Then I got a punchbag and gym equipment set up in my garage. I am out on the roads round here for my roadwork and the back garden for doing circuit stuff.
“The only thing I can’t do at the moment is sparring and padwork. But I’m getting my cardio done and keeping fit and going out walking with the dog, I am getting a lot of exercise in.”
When boxing does get the go-ahead again, Taylor believes he could be ready quite soon, although having not boxed for six months now means he needs to sharpen his tools.
“If I get the nod to fight, I think I could be ready in six to eight weeks ideally, because I haven’t really done any sparring since my last fight, which was in October,” he said.
“So I would need to get in some good sparring and I am with a new coach now so we are still getting to know each other.
“This can still be a great year for me. We just have to wait to see what happens.”
Ron Lewis is a senior writer for Boxing Scene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.