Josh Taylor (boxer)

Taylor was a junior taekwondo champion, and turned to boxing at 15. He spent a short time at Meadowbank ABC and then moved onto Lochend ABC under coach Terry McCormack of Edinburgh.[2] Taylor won a silver medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, where he was beaten by Thomas Stalker in the lightweight final by 11–3.[3]

Following the European Qualifying Event in Trabzon, Turkey, the ACB Lochend boxer qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, losing to number two seed Domenico Valentino in the round of 16.[4] Taylor became the first lightweight Scottish boxer to qualify for the Olympics since Dick McTaggart, who won a gold medal in Melbourne in 1956 and a bronze in Rome at the following games.[5]

He reached a Commonwealth Games final again in 2014,[6] this time at light-welterweight. Taylor won the gold medal, defeating Junias Jonas of Namibia in the final.[7] Taylor also represented the British Lionhearts at the World Series of Boxing.[8]

Taylor started his professional career in June 2015, signing with Barry McGuigan's Cyclone Promotions, and is trained by Shane McGuigan.[2][9][10] Taylor made his debut in July 2015, defeating Archie Weah with a second round technical knockout (TKO).

In his seventh fight, Taylor picked up the Commonwealth light-welterweight title by beating Dave Ryan with a fifth-round stoppage. Ryan went down twice over the course of the bout. Ryan had previously held the title between 2014 and 2015.[11] Taylor won his first seven fights by knockout (KO). His KO streak came to an end against Alfonso Olvera, who went eight rounds with Taylor at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on 28 January 2017. Taylor won the fight by unanimous decision (UD) with scores of 79–72, and 78-73 twice. On 24 March Taylor defended his Commonwealth title for the first time, beating Warren Joubert with a sixth-round TKO, after hurting him several times with left hooks. Joubert went down in round six and his corner threw in the towel.[12]

Taylor has been a supporter of Hibernian F.C. since he was a child.[24]

In December 2019, Taylor was arrested and charged with behaving in a threatening or abusive manner due to an incident whilst partying in Edinburgh. After being asked to leave a nightclub, he said a bouncer's "nose ring is gay", and referred to the bouncer as a "gay-looking cunt" and a "big orange-looking cunt".[25] Taylor later pleaded guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and was fined £350. He said on Twitter afterwards, "I whole heartedly apologise for my stupid actions. It has been a rollercoaster of a year for me, becoming unified world champion and on this occasion I've taken it too far."[26]

• Boxing at the 2012 Summer Olympics

• Boxing record for Josh Taylor from BoxRec
• Profile on AIBA