Is josh taylor washed up at 30?

I'm still surprised how quickly people have written off Taylor after just one off night performance against Caterall. Why is it that Taylor's rep has dipped so suddenly when he's still an undefeated champ? Lots of fighters have a bad night where they don't look as sharp, it happens.

 

People have short memories and so the last performance is always the one that is in the forefront of peoples minds. Fact is he looked very poor vs Catterall and it's led to people question just how good his opposition was and if he's as really as good as he was made out to be.

There's also the factor that making the weight could be too much now, he talked about moving up before but the pressure to rematch Catterall seems to have nixed that idea and maybe that's a fatal error going into this fight or one that at least makes this fight more competitive than it should be.

There's just a big question mark over Taylor right now, was the Catterall fight a one off bad night or a sign that he's done at 140 or that he actually was never as good as he was made out to be. This fight will answer a lot of these questions, if he beats Lopez convincingly then he'll probably go in as favourite vs Catterall if they rematch but if he struggles again then he'll probably be the underdog.

 

Doesn't that just say more about Caterall being a good fighter and having the right style to make Taylor look worse? I thought Caterall did enough to win but it wasn't like he completely schooled Taylor. Taylor's abilities and opposition shouldn't be questioned just because he fought someone that was better than expected. You don't become undisputed if you weren't that good to begin with.

I do agree that this fight against Teo will answer some questions about Taylor.

 

Possibly but Catterall himself is unproven outside of his fight vs Taylor which is why he was such an underdog going in.

As for Taylor being undisputed, I don't think that in itself proves as much as it usually does as I personally think 140 was pretty weak when he took all the belts. Maybe I'm not remembering correctly but it also seems we have more undisputed champions than usual in recent years, with Taylor, Canelo, Crawford, Inoue, Usyk, Charlo and we'll soon have an undisputed at welter too. Being undisputed seemed to be a much harder feat in the past.

Also Charlo is undisputed right now but he lost to Harrison and was lucky not to lose the first Castano fight. So undisputed again doesn't mean you are guaranteed to be one of the best P4P fighters in boxing, belts now mean less than they ever did, who you beat matters more and can you name any fighters who are ATG's or even guaranteed hall of famers that Taylor has beaten?

 

His mouth obviously still works as he never stops talking trash. Loud mouth dick.
Hopefully Lopez knocks his ass out. Maybe that would shut him up but probably not.

 

Are you saying Taylor’s run to undisputed wasn’t good enough to warrant a spot on a p4p list?.. Jeesh you must be hard to please fella

 

Washed up? This all comes from the Catterrall performance? That guy has an absolutely terrible style to look good against, I think JC won the fight but fighters can have off nights for various reasons, especially against an awkward horrible opponent they're unmotivated for. Surely you need one or two more pieces of evidence before deciding a 30yr old with low miles on the clock and undisputed at the weight is over the hill? Lopez is also a good fighter although he's coming up in weight and seems like he's lost his swagger. It'd be a stretch to say he's on the slide if he gets beat by him because a motivated and focused Lopez is extremely talented, depends how he looks.

 

Top 10 P4P but not stop 5 in my opinion. I've just never been impressed by him, maybe he's one of those guys like Froch who's technically basic but can overcome his limitations through grit and desire but when it comes to actual skills I don't see anything special about him.

Usyk, Loma, Inoue, Crawford, Spence, Fury, Canelo, Bivol, Davis are all better P4P for me right now and once Stevenson further proves himself he'll oust Taylor from my top 10 P4P list.

 

It’s the weight cutting more than anything; he’s been a big guy making 140 for a really long time. The Catterall fight has many believing that he can’t perform the same anymore because of weight issues. I honestly think any half decent version of Taylor beats the crap out of Teo though.

 

I do notice that there's been a trend of more undisputed fighters in boxing nowadays with the list of fighters you mentioned. It seems to be unheard of to have this many but I don't know if that makes being undisputed less prestigious. I also think it says more about fighters actually willing to fight the best now in their division, taking risks and put everything on the line. I do agree that opposition does play a part in the legitimacy of being an undisputed fighter.

I personally think Taylor's run at 140 has been good and his wins over Jose Ramirez and Regis Prograis are impressive. It's all subjective on how you rate one's level of opposition. I just don't think it's fair to quickly judge Taylor as a fighter and his whole achievement based off of just one fight.

 

He’s not technically basic pal you’re miles off if that’s what you honestly see.The tartan Spartan would never uppercut his own mush in a boxing ring…

 

That was probably a bit harsh but he's not some technical marvel. He often gives up his height advantage, he doesn't move his head very much at all, relying on a basic high guard because of that, his movement isn't great, he often gives up his range to fight inside like a much smaller fighter because he isn't actually that good on the outside, which is why Catterall had so much success.

Fury is far better technically with a far more well rounded skill set.

 

Canelo isn't undisputed.

 

THIS!

 

140 was a much tougher division when Taylor became undisputed than when Crawford became undisputed. With regards to your last sentence Taylor has been a pro 8 years and his resume is quite solid, he has fought everyone he was supposed to have fought. Terence Crawford has been a pro 15 years and his best win was beaten by Taylor in his 13th fight.