Former 140 lb undisputed champion Josh Taylor recently retired from the sport of boxing due to an eye injury, but speaking to Sky Sports he says while he’s not losing any sleep over it, his only regret
from his boxing career is not making a move to secure a fight with Terence Crawford.
Taylor, who at the time was the WBO’s ‘super’ champion a, believes he could’ve moved up from 140 to 147 to have become Crawford’s mandatory challenger, but instead honored a handshake deal with Jack Catterall to give him a rematch of a fight where most believe Catterall was robbed of a decision.
“That’s the only regret I’ve got from my career. I was awarded the ‘super’ title with the WBO after I beat Ramirez and it [allowed him] to go up to welterweight to get that fight,” Taylor told Sky Sports. “I could have easily went: ‘See you later, go earn your chance.’ But because he had stepped aside, because he was mandatory challenger and he allowed me to fight Ramirez first for all the marbles, so I made a deal with the guy, I shook the guy’s hand, which everybody seems to forget, and said if I win you get first shot. And that’s what happened.”
Given the fact there will hardly be anyone who thinks Taylor would’ve beaten Crawford, most fans won’t put too much stock into Taylor’s regret. But in his retirement Taylor admits he’s had both good and bad days as he no longer has a competitive goal to chase after more than 20 years of being in the sport, and at times it can be difficult for him to find a way to keep himself occupied while all his peers are doing their nine-to-fives.
Taylor is well aware that he needs to find an outlet to direct his attention being retired from his chosen profession at age 34, and hopes his love of motorbikes and skydiving may provide a constructive outlet for him going forward.
