Documentary out tomorrow on the BBC which follows him around in the run up to the Catterall fight. Shows him having bad weight issues which makes his decision to stay at 140 even more surprising. "I don't think I can ever remember in sparring being this bad for this long. I feel like I'm just not at the races," an exasperated Taylor at one point says to his trainer, Ben Davison, in the weeks leading up to the fight. Seeing a hideously gaunt, weight-drained Taylor desperately trying to sweat off the last few pounds in his hotel room before the weigh-in is genuinely shocking - and a stark reminder of what prize fighters put their bodies through.
If you remember he had to push the fight back due to a knee injury and I'd assume that didn't help things in terms of cutting weight for the re-scheduled date (e.g. road work). McGuigan said when Taylor first turned over he could've made 135 but they decided he would grow into 140 and he would be a "career 140" . So shouldn't be any issues with making 140 in normal circumstances.
Yeah I do mate, had covid and a chest infection too. Says he wants the Catterall rematch but the governing bodies throwing mandatories at him is getting in the way.
I think everything that could go wrong in his camp went wrong......... and it showed in the performance because he was well off the pace. Especially in terms of what we know he's capable of and have seen from him in previous fights. I get having the world titles = bigger clout for pay days but if he doesn't correct the Catterall fight it's forever going to be a black stain on his career that people will bring up. Hopefully Taylor comes through the Zepeda fight (which is no easy fight in itself) and then can get the rematch on.
Think the troubles he had in the run up to the catterall fight were genuine and caused the lethargic performance.just have to wait and see how he looks against zepeda then all being good go for the catterall rematch. As for him ever making 135 I highly doubt that having seen him next to Ricky burns.
Why doesn’t he vacate the belts then and fight Catterall and then move up to 147 rather than fighting Zepeda?
It's not just having a bad weight cut, he was enjoying the lifestyle after the Ramirez fight. It's clear he was getting tighter at the weight and didn't help he was enjoying himself a lot after that win, with a knee injury. What I'm saying is it wasn't the knee injury it's self that made him struggle with weight.
True mate. Even admitted himself he’d got himself a ‘dad bod’ enjoying himself so much after the Ramirez fight. I remember before the fight saying I was getting Lopez v Kambosos vibes. Lopez also looked shocking at the weight after enjoying himself a little too much post-Loma.
Have you seen a preview screening of this already mate? Is there a way to watch it now? Wouldn't mind watching ASAP so I can review before it airs. Cheers.
He ****ed the weight up with a bad camp and can still do 140, I don't think he'll be moving up to 147. I think if things had panned out a little differently he'd have gone up to 147 and fought Crawford as an undisputed v undisputed.... but after Catterall the fight doesn't sell like it would've done otherwise. Crawford is now fully set on the Spence fight now as well. Therefore if he is remaining at 140, him keeping the belts allows him more clout when it comes to negotiations and being able to push for a higher purse than if he held no straps. Hopefully he gets through Zepeda (and in turn a mandatory defence) and then will have a dispensation to fight Catterall in the rematch.
Just watching now and he was fooked. Chest infection, covid and knee injury. Constantly telling Davison how crap he felt. Surprised it didn’t get rescheduled again tbh. Clips of him trying to make weight the night before the fight are a bit disturbing.
The guy was queueing at some restaurant weeks before the fight talking to Terence Crawford about how he's twenty or so pounds overweight. I'm sure he had a bad camp but I'm betting poor discipline didn't help either.
The footage of him in his hotel room cutting weight the night before the fight was pretty unpleasant. I’m wondering if Josh was happy with so much footage of his bare arse too!
