'My world caved in' - Taylor on forced retirement

BBC News

3 days ago

For any athlete who has reached the top of their sport, saying goodbye can be the hardest part. When that decision is taken out of your own hands, it becomes harder still."It's just been like my world's caved in," Josh Taylor tells BBC Scotland two weeks on from the devastating diagnosis that brought his boxing career to an immediate halt.A routine eye exam following defeat by Ekow Essuman in May showed extensive damage. An initial scan found a tear in the retinal tissue behind Taylor's left eye, but a closer examination found there were actually six. The specialist laid it out plainly - continue boxing and you risk going blind.The Tartan Tornado enjoyed a career few fighters could dream of - a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, an Olympian and, in 2021, becoming the first - and so far only - male fighter from the UK to win four belts in a single division to become undisputed world champion.After consecutive defeats in his past three bouts, Taylor did not want his storied career to finish on a losing note and had hoped for "one or two more fights", but the potential loss of his vision in one eye put paid to thoughts of a fairytale ending.
The sudden transition from active fighter to former boxer has been tough to process."I'm feeling quite down in the dumps, to be honest," said the 34-year-old. "I've had two weeks to absorb it, but the more I think about it, the more upset I get."I know I've sort of completed the game in a sense in terms of becoming undisputed champion, but not going out on my own terms, it was kind of like a kick in the teeth."It was kind of like falling straight off the edge of a cliff. I'm not going to risk losing my sight for the sake of just one more fight. But it was like the end of my world."
'Heart-warming response softened the blow'
Elite athletes often speak of the difficulty of transitioning out of the sport that has defined them for most of their life. The structure of a training schedule, the lofty goals to aim for and everything that drives them on a daily basis, it all disappears overnight.Taylor speaks incredibly honestly, and with visible emotion, about "the slump" he is experiencing since he was told his boxing career was over.What has provided solace in this tough period is the mountain of messages, from fans and fellow fighters alike, paying tribute to the Scot for his magnificent achievements since he publicly announced his retirement on Monday."The messages of support that I've had has helped me, helped lift me cause it's made me feel a little bit better, made me feel appreciated, made me feel that I've done good in the sport," he says."I've had a lot of great messages from some high profile names and just my friends and people I haven't heard from in a long time."For the last few years I've had nothing but hate with every single post that I've written, there's always a section of the comments that there's just hate and stuff like that. I think this is the first one in the last two or three years that I've not had any."So the response has been quite heart-warming and made me appreciate what I achieved, kind of softened the blow a little bit and it's cheered me up a little bit. So I'd like to say thank you to everybody that's taken time to message me."
'Someone that wasn't afraid to be great'
Taylor admits his diagnosis perhaps "saved me from myself" - a fighter will always want to fight.What the future now holds for the boy from Prestonpans who conquered the world is unclear.He's open to some punditry work and with his direct, unvarnished honesty, he would seem tailor made for that.He will go back to where it all started, Lochend Boxing Club, to help out his friend and mentor Terry McCormack, inspiring the next generation. "Maybe we'll find the next Josh Taylor", he says.One day he might even open his own gym in East Lothian. He has a lot left to give to the sport, even if his own time under the lights has now come to an end.So how would Josh Taylor like to be remembered?"I don't know, I've never thought about it," he says."They're going to remember me any way they want, but I would like to hope they thought I was an all-action kind of fighter and wasn't afraid to take a fight."Someone that come up and took on all challenges and wasn't afraid to try to be great."Just a fighter."