Is This the End for Josh Taylor’s Career?

Carl Frampton believes Josh Taylor will choose not to fight again after losing to Ekow Essuman in an upset 12-round unanimous loss on Saturday night at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. This was Taylor’s third consecutive defeat, and it was a fight that he was expected to win. The scores were 116-112, 116-113, and 115-113.

Essuman (22-1, 8 KOs) is far from an elite or even A-level fighter, but he was too well-conditioned for the titred-looking 34-year-old Taylor (19-3, 12 KOs). Losing to this level of a fighter was a bitter pill for the former undisputed light welterweight champion Taylor to swallow. He looked depressed when the scores were announced because he knew what the results meant for his career.

Frampton Doubts Taylor’s Return

“I don’t think so. This guy was the elite of the elite, and he was a superstar. It’s clear that he’s not the fighter that he once was,” said Carl Frampton to DAZN Boxing when asked if Josh Taylor may ever fight again after his loss to Ekow Essuman on Saturday night in Glasgow.

The problem isn’t just that Taylor has lost a lot from his game. It’s more of a case of him never being overrated to begin with. If you look at his best wins, he wasn’t beating outstanding fighters from 2017 to 2022. Taylor’s best wins were against these fighters during that five-year period:

– Jack Catterall
– Regis Prograis
– Jose Ramirez
– Ivan Baranchyk
– Viktor Postol
– Miguel Vazquez

“It depends on what his dreams and ambitions are. I think it was to become a two-weight world champion. But on a performance like that, I don’t think it’s possible.”

Taylor’s only chance of becoming a two-weight world champion is if he gets a title shot against the winner of the clash between WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios and Manny Pacquiao. That doesn’t appear likely to happen after Josh’s loss to Essuman. For Taylor to get a title shot, he must come back and beat someone good.

Taylor’s Engine Runs Empty

“He had it for the first couple of rounds, and that’s it,” said commentator Ade Oladipo about Taylor looking good in the first two or three rounds against Ekow, and then quickly fading. “He looked sharp, he looked really good. That southpaw left was landing, and then the engine seemed to run empty very, very quick,” said Ade about Josh.

In Taylor’s past fights, he hadn’t shown issues with his stamina. However, he’d been out of the ring for a year since his loss to Jack Catterall in May 2024, and he’s only fought four times since 2021. Being inactive over a long period may have factored in Taylor gassing out. It’s his fault. If Josh had stayed active, fighting thrice a year since 2021, he probably wouldn’t have had this issue.

“It was like a 2-liter engine against a 1.6,” said Darren Barker, talking about Essuman having more energy than the tired-looking Taylor. “It was an engine that started to fade. It was a good start for Taylor.”

The weird thing is that Essuman looked slow, like he wasn’t expending any energy with the pace that he was fighting at. However, he just kept calmly attacking Taylor, occasionally landing big shots, and it wore him down. Taylor didn’t like getting hit by the heavy shots from Essuman.

“He was in a good groove, showing real fire, and that sort of will to win that we’re used to seeing from Taylor. But as that fight progressed, this man [Essuman], I wouldn’t quite say overwhelmed, but outgunned Taylor. Three or four shots for every one of Taylor’s,” said Barker.

Ekow landed the heavier shots and was landing shoeshine punches to his body when Taylor was fighting at close quarters, trying to hold.