Josh Taylor, the former undisputed champion at super lightweight, wants to share the squared circle with Devin Haney, the division’s latest WBC titleholder and a former undisputed champion at lightweight.
Josh Taylor is looking back at the 140-pound division
View this post on Instagram
Taylor’s rise to the top of the 140-pound division had been backed by years of hustle and tussle. Clinching the IBF belt against Ivan Baranchyk in 2019 marked the Scotsman’s climb to the undisputed throne.
In the same year, Taylor secured the WBA (Super) belt with a majority decision win over Regis Prograis, becoming the unified two-belt champion. After a one-sided title defense against Apinun Khongsong in 2020, Taylor became the undisputed monarch in May 2021, clinching the WBC and WBO belts from José Ramírez.
However, Taylor’s reign as the undisputed 140-pound champion did not last for too long. After a close call against Jack Catterall in February last year, which ended in a split decision, Taylor suffered his maiden professional defeat against Teofimo Lopez on June 10th this year and lost the WBC belt in the process.
Josh Taylor wishes to face Devin Haney before making the welterweight jump
After the Lopez fight, while Taylor expressed that he wanted to jump up to welterweight, the 140-pound division started to get more exciting with the entry of Devin Haney, the former undisputed at 135, winning the WBC super lightweight belt against Regis Prograis on December 9 in his divisional debut.
View this post on Instagram
Needless to say, Taylor was impressed to see Haney dominate his opponent from four years back, which might have postponed his welterweight plans for a bit, as Taylor is openly expressing his desire to lock horns with Haney, and that too, at catchweight.
“I’ll fight you champ!” Taylor said on social media. “I’ll give you the fight of your life! Catchweight, on your way to 147.”
There has yet to be any response from “The Dream”, but boxing fans can expect that the newly crowned WBC super lightweight champ will not back down from accepting the challenge of the former undisputed of the division.
