LONDON LOSS HAUNTS JOSH
WINNERS remember their defeats more than their victories and Josh Taylor’s loss on his last fight at York Hall is seared on his memory.
The unbeaten unified light-welterweight king is still angry at his GB Amateur Championship final defeat to Louis Adolphe in 2011.
Taylor feels he was cheated because he was a Scot fighting an Englishman in London.
The WBA and IBF champ returns to the same venue in glory tonight to face undefeated
Thai Apinun Khongsong, and says his amateur defeats as a teenager made him determined to succeed.
The gold and silver Commonwealth Games medallist (above), whose only other lightwelterweight loss was at the London Olympics, said: “It was daylight robbery. A double countback in a Scotland versus England match in the heart of London!
“I won that fight hands down and never got a decision. Amateur boxing was terrible at times, really bad in terms of decision making.
“I never took anything from that because I knew I won it. I took more from the other experiences as an amateur – going to the Olympics, the World Championships, going to Delhi in 2010, just missing out on a gold medal, just missing out on a medal at the Olympics again through crappy scoring.
“All those experiences have just made me more determined to be better.
“It wasn’t the fact I did anything wrong, I boxed really well, it was just the points scoring at the time was terrible. It just made me more determined to succeed.”
Taylor, 29, claims he is as hungry now as he was back then, despite claiming his first world title, unifying it and lifting the prestigious Ali Trophy for winning the World Boxing Super Series.
His new US promoter Bob Arum is promising him a clash for the undisputed title against WBC and WBO king Jose Ramirez next year and Taylor says he has much more to achieve.
“Mindset is the most important thing,” said the Edinburgh southpaw. “If you’re mind’s not right, you’re not going to perform right.
“I’m hungrier now than when I was up and coming. I want to win titles, to keep Scotland on the map, to have these big fights in Scotland and America.
“The fire is still firmly lit. Your mindset has to be right. Boxing’s too hard not to be on it 100 percent mentally.”
Taylor v Khongsong is live from 7.30pm tonight on BT Sport 1 HD and BT Sport Ultimate.