If until yesterday we could still have some legitimate doubts about whether Josh Taylor’s boxing career had reached its end, after his defeat to England’s Ekow Essuman at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, we must now face the harsh truth. The star of the “Tartan Tornado,” who thrilled fans for years, has finally set. Essuman won by unanimous decision against an unrecognizable Taylor. The judges’ scorecards read: 116-112, 116-113, 115-113.
Yet the home idol’s start, making his debut in the welterweight division, was quite encouraging. Taylor took the first two rounds by boxing aggressively and with determination, smothering a hesitant Essuman with his work rate. Admittedly, his reflexes in dealing with the Englishman’s occasional responses didn’t seem what they once were, but at least the Tartan Tornado broke the ice and looked fired up.
Essuman came alive in the third round, launching a decisive burst early in the frame and then confidently managing Taylor’s attempts to regain control. The fourth round delivered the two biggest thrills of the night: first, a Taylor left hand to the chin made the Englishman wobble for a second, then two right hooks from Essuman had the same effect on the Scotsman.
Shaken by the scare, the Tartan Tornado boxed a much more cautious fifth round, using his right jab effectively and neutralizing his opponent’s offense with footwork and a few smart clinches. As the fight reached its midway point, Taylor seemed to be in decent control.
But once again—just like in that far grander setting two years ago against Teofimo Lopez—Taylor faded when it mattered most. What had looked like a smart defensive strategy in the fifth round gradually became troubling passivity, and Essuman seized the moment.
The 36-year-old Botswana-born fighter grew in confidence, upped his tempo, and was also aided by a cut near Taylor’s left eye from an accidental head clash in the seventh round. Round by round, Essuman balanced the scorecards and then pulled ahead with a lively, proactive style.
Perhaps Taylor, as he admitted after the Lopez fight, was waiting for a “second wind” to kick in for a final flurry—but once again, not even a breeze came to push him toward victory.
The tenth round symbolized a frustrating “want to but can’t.” Taylor stubbornly tried to get back into the fight, but his punches were weak and ineffective, and his reflexes failed to keep him safe from Essuman’s combinations. The Englishman’s lead right hand repeatedly pierced his guard.
After also winning the eleventh, Essuman made a major mistake in the final round, slowing the pace as if he had already won and allowing an apparently exhausted Taylor to put the round in doubt with a last-ditch effort.
It was a risky move by the Englishman—when you’re fighting away from home, it’s best to win clearly to avoid biased judging. Fortunately for him, the judges were fair, awarding him a well-earned unanimous decision with reasonable margins (115-113 for Essuman matches this writer’s score).
Josh Taylor’s career was defined by a meteoric rise and an equally sharp fall. Between May 2019 and May 2021, the Scotsman went from winning his first world title to becoming the undisputed super lightweight champion, collecting all four belts undefeated. Then, between June 2023 and May 2025, he went from a painful dethroning to losing at home to a second-tier opponent.
No offense to Ekow Essuman, who did his job excellently and earned a prestigious win that will surely lead to more lucrative opportunities. But anyone who followed Josh Taylor from the start knows that, in his prime, he would have dominated this fight.
Every fighter reaches a point when the right thing to do is to acknowledge the downward slope, hang up the gloves, and proudly claim the accomplishments achieved—without regret. For Josh Taylor, that time has clearly come. Let’s hope the Tartan Tornado accepts it, rather than disappointing his loyal fans with performances that no longer do justice to his legacy.