The problem with any peak or summit is that, by its very definition, it is followed by a drop.
Sometimes that can be a pleasant amble back down to sea level. But, more often than not, a sheer precipice awaits those who reach their apex.
For Josh Taylor, becoming Britain’s first four-belt undisputed champion means he will forever breathe that rarefied air. That he did it in only his 18th fight, dropping unbeaten WBC and WBO champion Jose Ramirez on his way to a unanimous decision, makes his accomplishment even more special.
Since that night inside a Las Vegas COVID bubble in May 2021, things started to sour.
First it was his controversial victory over Jack Catterall in the first defence of his undisputed title. He won a split decision, but it was not vintage Taylor, who was dropped in the eighth. Many people scoring the fight thought Catterall did enough to claim the belts.
As it turned out, that win over Catterall in February 2022 would go down as the 19th and final victory of his memorable career. A trio of defeats followed. First against Teofimo Lopez in a challenge for the WBO 140-pound title, before Catterall had his long-awaited revenge two years and three months on from their first fight.
Taylor took a year out of the ring thereafter, but the Scottish southpaw returned with a fresh deal with Frank Warren in May. In what was supposed to be something of a homecoming for “The Tartan Tornado,” underdog Ekow Essuman boxed his way to a unanimous points win at SSE Hydro in Glasgow.
Things went from bad to worse within weeks of the defeat, as a long-standing eye problem gave him no choice but to retire. No real swansong, no chance to leave the sport on a high. Just a sheer drop.
“It’s the end of the road for me,” Taylor, 34, tells The Ring. “But what am I going to do now? Boxing’s all I’ve known for 24 years. My life was over in a sense. I’d never thought about it before, but what do you do? What do I do with myself? All of a sudden, I was stuck at home. Everyone is at work – my mates, my missus, my mum and dad, everyone at work. I’m trying to come to terms with my career being over and I’m just stuck at home with nothing to do. I couldn’t deal with it. I just couldn’t deal with being on my own with nothing to do. It was like, ‘Where has it all gone?’
“The best way to describe it is like a cliff … like falling off a cliff. Because of the way it finished, after having surgery, it was sudden. I probably could have continued, but I’m not willing to play with fire when it comes to my eyesight. Leg, shoulder? Maybe. But not my eyes. So, I had to stop straight away, and then I’m stuck in the house. There’s only so much you can do around the house, only so much gardening, before I’m just asking, ‘What am I going to do now?’
“I couldn’t handle that question. I ended up finding myself in the pub or I’d be at the house having a drink. Then I had a fall at home. I fell and cracked my head open in the house.”
If the summit in 2021 was easy to identify, this was undoubtedly his nadir.
“That was the lowest point of all,” Taylor said. “And it could have ended up a lot worse. I didn’t just fall. I was drunk and I was arguing with my dad when I fell and banged my head. He was obviously just trying to pull me out of my slump, but I fell and smacked my head on the corner of the skirting board. It could have been disastrous. I just got a little cut on my head in the end and then things started to change for me in Belfast.”
Taylor was invited to the city to do some commentary on the IBF welterweight fight between Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan at Windsor Park on September 13. Not only did he suddenly feel like he had some purpose back in his life, but the adulation of the crowd in Belfast felt like the boost he needed at exactly the right time.
Then, the day after the fight, Taylor saw the news that shocked British boxing to its very core.
“I had a great time in Belfast working on the boxing,” he said. “Hundreds of people were coming up and chatting and asking for pictures. Everyone wishing me all the best and I thought, ‘Wow, maybe I have had an impact on this sport.’ That picked me up. But then I woke up to the awful news about Ricky Hatton on the Sunday and I thought, ‘’esus Christ, that’s my hero.’ Obviously, we all knew about his different battles with depression, so that news gave me a horrible wake-up call. At that moment I knew I needed to pull myself together, to go out and do things.
“I came home from Belfast that day and any bit of drink I had in the house I took and threw it in the bin. It has done me the world of good really. I was in a very low place. I don’t like using the word depressed because it’s thrown around a lot, but I was on a real dip. I just couldn’t deal with not being able to box. But I came through that awful patch of four, five, maybe six weeks. That was my slump, but I’m through the other side of it. Now I have the rest of my life ahead of me.”
Taylor spoke to The Ring the day after the birth of his sister’s first child. “I’m Uncle Josh now,” he says.
He also has designs on returning to boxing in some capacity, whether that be in the gym or behind the mic. After taking a step back from his despair, he can suddenly see his options.
“There is a lot going on,” Taylor said. “I just couldn’t really see it. I’ve invested my money wisely, so I can get into helping out at the gym with the kids, which I do enjoy. Of course I’ll be helping out by being an uncle, too. I’ve got a lot to look forward to and a lot to live for.
“I feel like I can adjust to life properly now, be an uncle and also try and maybe find a new champion at Lochend. Maybe I’ll get my own gym down the line, but then I’d spend the next half of my life stuck in a gym again. Maybe I’ll get stuck into my other hobbies. I’ve got my motorbikes and stuff, but also I can just enjoy the simple pleasures in life.”
The nature of boxing is that Taylor’s turmoil will not be exclusive to him. There will be men and women all over the world about to turn the corner from their life as a fighter directly onto civvy street.
“My advice to them would be to try not to dwell on it too much,” Taylor said. “It’s near enough impossible not to dwell on it, but try not to do it too much because that is what gets you down. You are better off looking at the things you did achieve. You have lived your dream. For however long or short that was, you did live your dream.
“You tried your best, you’ve done well and now it’s time to go and live life to the fullest and do whatever you want to do. So don’t be sad. Be proud and happy with what you’ve done. Now you’ve got the time to go and find yourself a new mountain to climb.”