Josh Taylor: record, next fight and profile →
WBA, IBF junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor is getting a real itch to get back in the ring - and he doesn't care if the contest take place inside an empty arena. The 29-year-old boxer had been scheduled to fight last month, but his contest was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
IBF, WBA junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor admits that he would need to muster up a lot of mental strength to get himself motivated in a closed doors scenario. Earlier this month, Taylor was due to defend his two titles against mandatory challenger Apinun Khongsong of Thailand. The event was pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Jose Ramirez is more than willing to fight another unbeaten junior welterweight champion in his opponent’s backyard. Ramirez knocked out Maurice Hooker near Hooker’s hometown of Dallas in his last fight. If Ramirez defeats mandatory challenger Viktor Postol in his next bout, the WBC/WBO 140-pound champion would be open to traveling to the United Kingdom for a title unification fight against Scotland’s Josh Taylor.
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.
Josh Taylor’s debut with Top Rank will obviously come later than previously anticipated, although he has vowed to be ready for whenever that moment ultimately arrives. “I have the mindset where the phone could go at any time,” the unified 140-pound titlist insisted during a recent interview with Sky Sports. “So, I am keeping myself fit and in good shape.”
Two dethroned 140-pound champions each chose the man that beat him to win a title unification bout between those unbeaten boxers who’ll eventually fight for supremacy within their division. Regis Prograis picked Josh Taylor to beat Jose Ramirez if they fight for Taylor’s IBF and WBA 140-pound championships and Ramirez’s WBC and WBO belts. Maurice Hooker, who is supposed to oppose Prograis next, predicted Ramirez would win that bout.
WBA, IBF junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor regards Manny Pacquiao as his dream match opponent. Pacquiao, an eight division world champion, currently holds the WBA world title at the welterweight limit of 147-pounds.
Teofimo Lopez (15-0) will be the underdog when he finally steps in the ring against Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-1). The unification was scheduled for May 30th but has been put on hold with the coronavirus pandemic shutting down the sporting world across the planet.
Carl Frampton will have to wait a little longer for his attempt to become a three division world champion, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. There was a date in June, in Belfast, being targeted for Frampton's challenge of WBO super featherweight world champion Jamel Herring.
We don’t know when the fight will happen with the current Coronavirus pandemic but eventually Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-1) and Teofimo Lopez (15-0) will meet in a lightweight unification.