Josh Taylor: Portrait of a Fighter (2022) Movie Script
This programme contains
very strong language
ANNOUNCER: From Prestonpans,
Edinburgh, Scotland...
..Josh "The Tartan Tornado" Taylor!
When I was in primary school,
I said,
"I want to be rich and famous
like a superstar pop star
"or something, or a footballer"
and never, ever imagined
that it would come true,
or I would be a world champion
boxer, for even that matter.
COMMENTATOR: And Josh Taylor has
won gold at the Commonwealth Games!
I was aware of Josh from right back,
you know, the Lochend Boxing Club.
Everybody in the boxing fraternity
would be talking about him
all the time. It's just been
this kind of relentless rise.
COMMENTATOR: The Tartan Tornado
is world champion
after only 15 professional fights.
People see Fury and AJ as the
top fighters in the UK,
but what Josh Taylor has
done already in his career
has probably surpassed anything
they've done put together.
He's a special, special fighter.
COMMENTATOR: Big left hand
drops Jose Ramirez!
There's only been five other
fighters in boxing history
to have become undisputed
world champion.
The undisputed champion
of the world...
..Josh "The Tartan Tornado" Taylor!
You just see the buzz when Scotland
are playing well,
when Andy Murray's doing well -
and Josh is absolutely
amongst those names.
He's a Scotland great.
And I think what's exciting is he's
nowhere near where he wants to be.
Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall
will battle it out in Glasgow
for the undisputed super lightweight
ten-stone treasure.
It's a completely different pressure
going to the ring as the champion,
with nothing to gain from it.
The moment he steps in through those
ropes, the belts go up in the air.
Every fight that he has now,
it's, "This is his biggest
fight of his career."
And, obviously, it's on home soil
this time, so I think, you know,
you're going to be feeling the
pressure to put a good show on.
Jack Catterall is a very,
very good fighter.
He's beaten every opponent that's
been put in front of him.
But I've got bigger plans and bigger
goals that I've set out to do.
I want to become a two-weight
undisputed world champion,
something that no-one has
ever done in the sport.
That would be me leaving
an everlasting name
and legacy in the sport of boxing.
CHANTING: Chorley! Chorley! Chorley!
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen,
after 12 rounds here
inside OVO Hydro, we go
to the judges' scorecards
for the official decision.
And still undisputed...
CROWD CHEERS
..super lightweight champion
of the world,
The Tartan Tornado,
Josh Taylor!
COMMENTATOR: That is
absolutely stunning!
Josh Taylor retains his titles
on a split decision.
Bullshit! Fucking
cheating...! Bullshit.
# There's only one Josh Taylor!
Come on, Josh!
If this wasn't in Scotland tonight,
Jack would've won.
You know that, I know that.
COMMENTATOR: Take nothing away from
Josh Taylor's effort and his spirit.
But, for us, Jack Catterall
should be the undisputed champion.
Wasn't my best, like, eh?
That's how it is, eh?
I'm all right. Sweet.
You all right? Uh-huh...
Don't feel a thing? Nope. Good.
Oh...
Pissed off.
I just don't get it.
Jack won the fight, for me.
Aye, you're all good.
Aw, fuck!
MOTOR SPUTTERS
Ah, fucking hell...
MOTOR STARTS
MOTOR CUTS OUOh...
I've got to give up.
HE LAUGHS
That's what happens when
you let your grass
grow and grow like a jungle.
MOTOR CUTS OUAh, fuck's sake.
What's going on here?
MOTOR CUTS OUOh...!
Don't you dare put
this on the telly.
I'll sue the hell out of you.
You better no' put this
on the BBC, I'm telling you.
"Cannae even cut his fucking grass."
Aw, man, look at
all that, though, man.
See how perfect the other
side is, Tom?
Beautiful.
FAUX AMERICAN ACCENT: "Beautiful!"
I live in Haddington, which is
about eight miles
just from where I grew
up, in Prestonpans,
and it's about 15 miles
east of Edinburgh.
Neighbours will get some laugh
watching me doing that.
It was a great place to grow up.
We had lots of freedom,
we had the sea on our back door,
we had lots of countryside
on our doorstep.
Quite a tough little place.
You know, you had to
learn to defend yourself
and, you know, look after yourself.
There's not many people where
I'm from, who are my friends,
that didn't grow up fighting.
Prestonpans is an old mining town.
It's escaped the gentrification
that a lot of these towns have had.
Places like Haddington and
North Berwick
have had the influx of
commuters from Edinburgh.
Prestonpans has probably been one
of the towns that's kept it real,
basically, in that
part of the world.
This is a house that
I grew up in - here.
Two-bedroom council house.
Lived here till I was, like,
25, 26 years old, so...
Paddy!
Ah, dear...! That's sweet...!
He used to leave notes about
the house when he was a kid...
..saying he was going
to be world champion.
And we found that.
He must have been about ten.
Oh, he was just so headstrong.
He was competitive
at everything he done.
We could sit and eat a bowl
of cornflakes, and I'll say,
"I'll race you," and he would just
stuff them in his face, just to win.
I just knew way back then
he was a bit special, he was...
He was gonnae be something.
He was funny, he was a funny wee...
He's was a funny lad, eh?
He used to like to take his clothes
off and run about naked... Aye.
..and do the Full Monty and things.
He was really good
at the Full Monty.
The Full Monty would come on...
He would have to start...
Start taking his clothes off..!
I still do want to be a
part of the Full Monty.
"What do you want to be
when you're bigger, Josh?"
"A stripper."
He's just always full of fun.
No, but he wasnae always. He was
a pain in the backside sometimes.
People coming to the door, saying
he'd thrown stones at their windows
and complaining about him
fighting with their boys, and...
Aye, just your usual kid stuff.
That's Josh when he was a baby.
Long legs and long arms.
Look at the state of this.
I had a great upbringing.
My dad was a landscape gardener
for Edinburgh Council.
My mum was a receptionist
at Meadowbank Sports Centre.
They worked every
hour under the sun.
They worked really, really hard
for myself, for my little sister
to enjoy things and have good
clothes, have good stuff.
Sometimes we didn't have enough
to put petrol in the car
to get him to training,
but we got there somehow.
Jamie worked really hard, as well.
He used to work two jobs.
I had two jobs.
It was quite hard.
It was hard going, trying to keep
them getting what they want
and making sure they
were fine for everything.
It did put a lot of strain on mine
and Jamie's marriage at some times.
At first, it was quite a shock to
Finch and Josh that we'd split up,
because we've been together
since we were at high school,
like, 12, 13-year-old, so that's,
like, longer than a lifetime,
And I think it was a shock to quite
a lot of people that we split up.
But, do you know what?
We're getting on fine now.
There's Josh... That's the
craziest person I've ever met.
Who's that?
Diane when she was a lass.
I'm no' really crazy.
I'm quite a nice person.
Dinnae believe him, Tom.
There was always a bit of
tooth and nail with the two of them,
arguing like cat and dog.
I think a lot of it was
because they were spending
all their time working to provide
for myself and Finch.
I think it took its
toll on them sometimes.
You know, they'd let things build
up, build up, and build up,
and then they would explode.
It was crazy at times, and mad at
times, but whose family isn't?
If it wasn't for my mum and dad,
I wouldn't be where I am today.
You know, fact.
They worked their socks off to
give us everything that they had.
Paddy, this way.
As Josh was brought up,
he just went out playing
and running about all the time.
That's all we had to do with him
when we were youngsters
but nowadays, you dinnae see
any kids about the place.
They're all sitting in their houses
playing their PlayStations.
That's what I see as different
about town here, Prestonpans.
I think, you know, a lot of working
class, cos they've been left behind,
and it's not just in Prestonpans.
I mean, I see it where, you know,
where I grew up in Muirhouse,
There's not a lot for them,
and recreational space
is sold off to developers.
You know, you see what happens
is that obesity rates rise.
What Josh has done, and what
leading sports people have done,
they kind of reverse that trend.
They encourage kids to get into
sport, they encourage kids to join
the local boxing club, to join
the local five-a-side league.
But the facilities have to be there.
Otherwise, it's just drugs
and street corners, basically.
This is, like, the bit where we
sort of used to hang around
when we were, like, little kids.
See, the running track's no' in
very good nick any more,
cos the gate's shut,
nobody's using it.
Kids are having to break the things
in the fence just to get in
and get a game of football.
It's quite crap to see.
But there's some lads climbed
in over the fence here,
so we'll go and see what they say.
It's Josh Taylor!
Sting. Aw, what a game that was.
On the seventh goal, you have to
either header it or backheel it in.
Once you get seven in,
you've got to turn around,
put your arse in the air,
and the lads put the ball
on the penalty spot,
and everybody gets a free dig
at your backside.
If you refuse to let
everybody have a shot at you,
you get a thing called
the magic circle.
You've just got to protect yourself,
and everybody gets to set about you.
It's a pretty brutal game, but
it is exciting, it's pretty good.
I used to love playing that
when I was a kid, like.
Is it still the same?
Do you still play the same way?
Seven, and then 14, the
kegs down, and 21, bare arse.
Aye...! Then if nobody...
You get the magic circle.
Aye, magic circle.
Get battered...
That's actually quite nice to
see,that. That's quite funny.
Brings back a lot of memories.
All right, boys?
Away to play football?
There's a wee hole in the fence.
All that hassle to try and
get a wee game of football.
For me, that's shocking.
It should be open.
It used to be free and open.
Can me and my friends
get a group photo?
Of course, lads.
In my fights, when they
get introduced as,
"And from Edinburgh, Josh Taylor..."
Enjoy your game of football. See you
later, wee man.
See yous later, boys.
..I said to a couple of announcers
early on, I says,
"I'm no' from Edinburgh.
"I'd like you to say my
hometown, Prestonpans."
And you had Michael Buffer
shouting it -
"From Prestonpans, Josh Taylor!"
It's brilliant.
I'm really proud of that fact, that
I've put Prestonpans on the map,
and people around here are
proud of that fact, as well.
It gives a lot of the
kids around here...
To reach the heights of where
you want to go, it's not...
you don't have to be
from a certain place.
I'm real, I'm living it.
I'm right there.
Like, if I can do it, the kids
can do what they want, as well.
Is my blue one there? Drying.
Are they? Right, that's fine.
And there's other stuff
in the washing machine.
Are they yours?
Take them if you want...!
They might be quite nice on me.
Wee hot pants.
Oosh!
On Monday, I'm going down to Essex
and back to the gym with my coach,
Ben, and all the lads,
and start training camp.
I will be a wee bit lost,
I think, when he goes back.
My house will be nice and tidy.
He just leaves everything
lying on his backside.
But things get back to business now.
Every fight that he has now,
it's, "This is his biggest
fight in his career.
"And now this is..."
So, every fight is, like,
at the top.
Ready to go.
I might see him, maybe,
three or four times, maybe.
I just feel like he needs
just to have that space,
and just get on with training and...
..just be in the zone.
Sorted.
I've been working with
Josh Taylor for about 18 months,
and his career, up to date,
has been extraordinary.
Josh has achieved numerous
titles throughout his career.
Obviously, an Olympian.
Gold medal at the 2014
Commonwealth Games.
What's happening, mate?
Yeah, good, man.
How are you doing? This is...
I've been away for about six months.
JOSH LAUGHS
When he turned professional,
he took to it like a duck to water.
Josh won his first world title
in just his 15th fight.
He went on to become undisputed
champion in just his 18th fight.
There's four different world titles,
and it's very rare for those
champions to face each other.
When they do, and somebody has
all of the belts - like Josh -
and has beaten every single other
champion in his weight category,
that means you become the
undisputed champion of the world.
Pizza belly, Tom.
Wee dad bod.
Every fight is different.
When they've achieved a goal
they've had for such a long time,
it's a huge relief, and everybody
deals with that differently.
I'm just over 12st, about 12.02st.
12.03st, maybe.
I need to get down to 10st.
I've been known to work with
fighters that really pack on
the weight, so...
Look, it's not the end of the world.
But boxing is the truth.
There's no hiding.
When you get in there,
the truth will come out.
If you've not put the work in,
if you've cut corners,
the truth will come out.
As brutal as it is,
it's beautifully brutal.
I've known Josh for a long time.
I've basically followed Josh's
footsteps from the amateur days.
I don't think we would push
ourselves as much as what we do
if we didn't have each other...
Ah, fucking hell, man.
..because I just feel like you
physically can't push yourself
that much unless you've got someone
there who's maybe just above you.
That's why you get that extra 10-20%
out of yourself in the training.
JOSH EXCLAIMS
Fuck... Eh?
Fuck.
It's a lonely life at times,
you know,
and I'm very lucky that I've got my
little brother, Lee McGregor,
going through the same thing.
So, we kind of bounce off each other
and get each other through it.
Mate, I'll see you in a wee while.
See you in a bit. See you in a bit.
I'm an Edinburgh
lad. I'm a Hearts fan, Jambo,
and Josh is a Hibs fan.
So, it's two Edinburgh teams.
There's needle and there's banter.
It depends how
serious people take it.
Me and Josh are pretty laid back
with it, but when the two teams meet
and they play each other,
we're both, obviously,
winding each other up.
We need to go on the
pitch at half-time,
during a Hibs-Hearts game,
and we need to have a penalty
shoot-out. How good would that be?
Aye, that would be good.
When I'm down in Essex, I live
in a house with five other lads.
We all stay together and live,
breathe and eat boxing together.
Have you had a haircut today, Josh?
Yesterday.
What are you copying my beard for?
Oh. Fucking itching like mad.
Oh. Itching like mad.
I'll keep saying until you answer.
It's itching like mad.
OK, very good!
It's Leo's house.
What a character he is.
Amazing. He's some lad.
Playing his favourite game -
round the board. Right, I'm on ten.
Who's touching...? Sorry, I never
meant it.
Don't touch the light switch.
Wee Scotsman under a bit of pressure
and you're trying to
fuck my game up.
LAUGHTER
Go on, then. What are you on?
Bull's-eye. 25. I'm on 25 now.
What? Have you hit the green one?
I'm on the green now.
There you are.
Just above it. Good marker.
Ho, ho, ho, ho! Oh, what a shot.
That was amazing. That was amazing.
I've shared rooms
with Josh many times
and I just think
he's got so much energy.
I would love to get some
of the energy from him.
I've got clips on my phone from us
in hotel rooms and it's like 12am
and we're sharing the room,
and Josh is up in front of me.
He's shadow boxing and
I'm trying to sleep.
Boom, boom, boom! Ah, shite!
Josh is...
He's an intense character.
Boom, boom, boom! Ah, fuck!
Have a breather. On the next one.
Intensity is the
price of excellence.
So, because he has that mentality
and he's that...that intensity,
whatever he focuses on,
he'll do well on.
Fucking hell. What?
I'm not half breathing.
I've got such high standards
and expectations of myself
that, if I don't meet them
or hit them straight away,
I get a little bit
frustrated with myself.
So is that it? Yeah.
That will do you today.
Will I do one more?
No, that'll do. Six.
People need to hold me back
because then I would go and hit
the bags for as long as I could,
knacker myself out, then
I'd be knackered tomorrow.
I wouldn't be able to train
tomorrow as well or as efficiently
because I'll been knackered
from the day before.
Time.
No, it's not that. It's just...
You say that at every camp!
It's just time, innit?
It takes time to get back
to what you used to.
He's fucking nuts, he is.
He thinks a couple of hard
sessions is going to fix it.
It just takes time.
Right now, the main focus
is basically preparing his body
for the tough task ahead,
to prevent any injuries,
so we make it to the fight
safe and sound, God willing.
COUGHING
Yeah.
HE COUGHS
The cough's still no'
properly cleared up yet.
HE COUGHS
And again. Oh.
I caught Covid as well last month,
so I think it's a
bit of that as well.
Then I caught a chest infection,
then I've picked up my knee injury
and I'm not able to really run
or lift weights properly
or, even in boxing at certain shots
I'm throwing, it's really hurting
my leg and giving me a shooting
pains in my legs.
My body's a little
bit less conditioned
than what is usually is.
You know, that's
probably half the reason
why I've picked
up a couple of injuries.
Nah?
Josh having his injuries and illness
at the moment is an issue.
This is the ultimate prize in boxing
and Jack will be making sure
that he comes at 100%,
so we need to make
sure Josh is 100%.
Unfortunately, we're going
to have to push the fight back.
RADIO: While West Ham brushed aside
Genk by three goals to nothing.
Boxing and Josh Taylor's
December 18th World Title defence
against Jack Catterall
has had to be postponed
after Taylor suffered a knee injury.
The fight in Glasgow will now
go ahead on the new date
of February 26th.
I'm gutted at the fact that I can't
fight the week before Christmas,
having to cancel Christmas
and keep training and...
..keep dedicated, so...
It's hard. Everybody says, "Oh,
you're so lucky you're doing this,
"you're doing that."
But you're away from family.
You're away from
your home comforts,
you're away from your
friends, my fiancee, and...
..putting your body through a
whole lot of torture and pain,
and you're kind of
miserable at times.
You know, it's not all big
lights and glamorous stuff.
You know, it's a very, very
hard way to earn a living.
This is traditional Friday
night if Josh comes home.
I've had two deaths in
the family since...
..and Josh has been, like,
in camp for them as well,
so I know that he felt really bad
because he couldn't be with me.
Times like that,
that's when it's tough.
My dad was such a friendly guy,
the best dad to me and my brother.
Even though you're grieving
and, you know, you're feeling
all these emotions, unfortunately,
you just need to keep going on.
I was on the phone to
Danielle and she was crying
and, you know, I was
trying to play brave.
And I come off the phone and
I'd have a cry myself and, like,
break down in tears and then I'd
have to go to the gym, you know?
And I had to block it out,
and I felt so bad that...
..that I couldn't be there
for them emotionally, you know?
So I still feel bad
about now and...
..I miss James so much as well.
So, yeah, it was hard. Yeah.
Being with someone
that's in sports,
there's always something
going on in our lives,
so there's always
something to focus on.
And just now, obviously,
it's Josh's fight.
And then obviously the wedding,
the wedding preparations
are keeping me busy.
What's happening? All right? Hi.
We've been together 11 years now,
so we've been together a long time.
We never really had a normal
relationship, so to speak,
because I was always
away and training,
and so we never really got to spend
an awful lot of time together.
So, when I did come back,
we would go and do stuff,
stuff that was a luxury for us,
even just going for something to eat
together, going to the pictures,
or even just go on a drive,
spend a bit of time together.
If I was maybe not enjoying boxing
at times, struggling with stuff,
she was like, "Keep at it.
This is your dream.
"It's your goal. Keep at it.
You can do it."
And she's been at my
back the whole way.
We actually met through my cousin.
Josh comes up drunk and
he sits down beside me,
and I'm like, "Hiya."
And he went,
"I hear that you're into me
and that you think I'm tidy."
And I just turned round and I'm
like, "Who the fuck are you?"
"I didn't know who he was!"
And both of us turned
round and looked at my cousin,
and he was, like,
killing himself laughing.
And then we just got talking
after that because obviously Josh
knew then that it was
kind of like a set-up.
So with that night we just
sat and chatted for ages,
and had a wee dance together.
He made me feel at ease with him.
He was always giving me compliments.
And, still to this day, I'm not a
very confident person within myself
and I always kind of bring myself
down and he's like, "No, no, no.
"You know, you're this, you're
that, you're beautiful,"
and, you know, all that stuff.
And I think really, he's helped
me grow as a person as well.
How many's coming in the bus?
How many's coming in this?
I'll jump in the bus.
I'll go in the bus.
This is my cousin David, and cousin
Stuart, and my cousin Steven.
All right?
La familia.
LAUGHTER
Used to wind me up something rotten
all the time when I was a,
when I was a kid, like, but...
Cannae do it now, can you?! No.
We're on the way through to Glasgow,
getting sized up for the kilts
and get all measured up to get all
the stuff sorted for the wedding.
You know, just when we're getting
married, it's nice to keep
the family tradition and
the tartan and that alive.
Also, on the day, I'll
be true Scotsman as well,
so better put some Vaseline
on for the old chafing.
WOLF WHISTLES
What do you think, boys?
How you doing? Looking smart.
That is nice.
Oh, perfect, man.
It's quality, innit?
During the kilt fitting,
I met a young lad that wanted me
to sign a set of gloves for him.
So, what are you
studying at college?
His mother sources the tartan
and the stuff for the shop.
He told me he'd been struggling
from autism
and boxing really,
really helped him.
It's good that you...got
through it yourself,
improved, socially and
everything, it's amazing.
That's really cheered me up, that.
He was getting bullied at school
and things like that,
and he went to the boxing gym and
says within a couple of weeks,
he kind of started making friends
and started coming out
of his shell a wee bit
and was able to talk to people.
He's at college now,
he's doing computing and stuff.
Maybe see you at a club show
or fighting one day, maybe.
Let me know when you're fighting and
I'll come along and watch you.
He wouldn't stop smiling at all.
Good on him.
Amazing, man. Brilliant.
I'll go home and greet about that.
Yeah, I was just thinking... It's
quite inspirational. It's nice.
It's brilliant, especially...
You hear things like that,
what boxing can do for people,
not just fighting... Brings you out
your shell, aye. Aye. It's amazing,
like, what it can do. Brilliant.
Believe it or not, as a kid,
I was quite shy in terms of what I
wanted to get and go after things,
and I never really
believed in myself.
Boxing helped me in that
way and helped me grow
self-confidence and self-belief,
and gave me my self-worth.
Everyone else sort of seen the
talent that I had except for me.
He came in the gym one
night with his father,
looking for some sparring.
You see if they've got a
bit pop in their punches
and that's really the first
thing, you think, "Oh, wow,
"this guy's genetically strong."
And then you look for a
bit of speed.
Through time, you look to see
if they're going to stick it
because a lot of kids that come in,
they'll maybe be here two or three
weeks
and then you dinnae see them again,
but Josh was different.
He... He just kept turning up and,
you know, and never
missed a session.
I think he would rather
die than lose at anything.
Anything... Even
walking along the street...
..I want to beat people at walking.
So competitive.
I've never met anyone that's had
a bad word to say about Terry.
You know, I love him.
You know, he's been there
for me since I was 17.
You know, I could go to him and
talk to him about any problems
that I had in my life and he would
give me sound advice all the time.
He goes out of his way to
help people in the community.
People go from all over
the place to Lochend now
because Terry is just...is a
good guy and he'll help you.
There's not much in Lochend.
There's like a football boys' club
up the road and there's us,
but we care for everyone
and it's a right community gym.
There's a lot of mental health
going around just now
through COVID and stuff, people
being locked down and that.
I just don't understand
why they lock gyms
and open like McDonald's
and KFC and stuff.
The mental health and the
suicides went through the roof.
You had them
running out on the beach,
in the freezing cold, and all that.
Aye, it was bad, bad times,
what the government done with Covid,
shutting people's lives down.
Josh has done amazing things
for Scottish boxing.
They see him coming
out of this wee hut
in Lochend and they think,
"We can do it."
He's made them believe. Scotland
used to be kind of the whipping dog
of the boxing world.
If you got drawn a Scottish guy
back in the day, it was like a bye.
Now, the world is like,
"That Josh Taylor is Scottish.
"They must be good boxers."
Josh has inspired these kids
to push on and go for the medals
in the big tournaments.
You'd be here all night.
If it was up to you, you'd
never get away from here.
The journey has just
been like a dream, eh?
I mean, it's everybody's dream to
be part of a journey
that involves somebody winning
everything right up to the pinnacle
of a world title and
then becoming undisputed.
To be part of that is just,
it's a special, special moment.
Last week, Ben said that he was
going to Vegas for a number of weeks
and I just said, "Yeah,
sign me up. I'm coming."
We are all going over there
for like three or four weeks,
myself and Lee McGregor getting a
good bit of training camp done
and get where we want to be.
All the massive fights have
been in Vegas and my best fight,
my biggest achievement,
was in Vegas as well.
Welcome inside the brand-new Virgin
Hotel, here in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was a good, hostile
atmosphere, in the lion's den,
because obviously it
was restricted crowd.
It was only, I think,
1,000 people in
and the majority were for Ramirez.
Good left hand. Drops Jose Ramirez.
I genuinely started to get
worried at one point
because...because it was four
in the morning and I was steaming.
But also it seemed so one-sided
that you felt something
was going to go wrong,
you're going to get caught with a
lucky punch or something
and go down, but he just
never looked in trouble.
And for a fight of that magnitude,
it just shows you how
far Josh has come.
Great memories, you know,
memories that will last me
for the rest of my life.
ANNOUNCER: Josh Taylor!
With it being my best
achievement in my career,
it was a little bit tainted
because COVID
and the restrictions with travelling
and getting into America,
the people that mean the most to me
couldn't come with me
and share that moment.
I'm still super
happy with what I did,
but I believe we can go back
and I'll keep winning,
and we can go back and do it again.
It would be nice to experience
what most people come over here
to experience, but I'm afraid
we've got different dreams.
I've come here with less tan
than I came - even more pale -
so I've not seen any sun at all.
We've been just seeing
the gym and the house,
and the gym and the house.
Only a couple of times we've
had the opportunity to get out
and actually explore a little
bit of the strip and stuff,
so it's not all glamorous.
It's more work than it is glamour.
I'd love to have a night here,
no training, just come here and
experience it properly.
It'd be class.
Vegas must be a hard place
to do a training camp
because you're seeing everything
that you could be doing
if you were on a holiday
and the lads need to live like
monks when they're in camp.
I love it here.
My wife's from here -
it's why we got the place.
I didn't realise how much
I kind of needed this place,
you know...the anonymity,
and I think Josh has
enjoyed that as well.
I've known Martin
now for about six years.
He's Scotland's
sweetheart, you know?
Everyone loves him in Scotland
and he's a real cool guy.
He's been to a lot of my
fights and he supports me.
I don't know about you, but I'm
freezing my tits off here.
This is like being
back in Scotland, man.
They've went soft. Losing weight.
Had that nice weather.
There you go, son.
No, I'm all right!
He's a fucking madman.
He's a great lad,
loyal to his family, loyal to his
pals, but he is a headcase.
Erm... But I think you've got to
have that to be a top level...
You've got to have something...
That killer instinct. You've got
to have a bit of danger about you,
you've got to have
something, that adrenaline,
because you always... Aye, very nice
words, Martin. Thanks very much.
Speaking very nicely to me!
Look, the boy's got a great heart
but he is a bit of a madman, you
know, and I think he's a character,
and I think, in sport,
people do respond to that.
They respond to people
that speak their mind.
Sometimes I'll say things
and I don't realise
what I'm saying can be huge.
I forget about the effect
it can have on other people
because I don't see
myself as a celebrity,
and I don't see myself
as anything special.
I think he needs to realise now,
where he's at in his career,
anything he says is going
to be under a microscope.
Anything, any opinion he's got,
anything he's ever done,
people are going to look at
that and, if they can use it,
it will be used to batter you over
the head
because there's always people
that want to see you fail.
I sort of wear my
heart on my sleeve.
I'm an honest person and maybe
say some stupid things every now
and again, but it's never
with bad intentions.
I don't believe in
putting on a persona.
If you put on a persona,
you've got to maintain an image.
I'm just myself. I'm just one of the
best in the world at what he does
and lives for it, and
dedicates himself to his craft.
I'm just a...down to Earth, working
class lad at the end of the day.
We're off on our way to church,
Sunday ritual, wherever we go,
for training camps.
So...it'll be eventful.
It's hard to explain.
I don't categorise myself in being
a Christian or being a Muslim.
I just feel like I have my
own relationship with God.
I always go to...to the church,
while I'm away on training camp
especially, and become
good friends with a pastor.
So the boys come along with me
and they seem to enjoy it as well.
People watching from Australia,
they're watching from all around the
world, maybe even from Scotland,
or from England, my friend,
the great trainer, Ben Davidson.
Josh Taylor. I saw Lee again,
a tremendous boxer.
But I'm going to ask everybody to
stretch their hands
to them right now.
And I want you just to begin
to pray for these four men
who came to church.
I want you to pray that,
as they fly back to
England and to Scotland,
that they're going to feel
the love of a church.
And I want to just tell
you something.
You're just not normal guys.
You have a huge, huge destiny.
And they're warriors.
I want to be more like
them when I grow up.
I want to be more
like them in my future.
I want to be a warrior for God.
Can everybody pray
as we sing this song?
He just said he sees things in me,
he sees the word "inspiration"
and that over me,
and to help people and drive people
on and helping people in the future
and that. I swear, as soon as
the prayer was almost finished,
I felt like a warm sensation
going through my body,
like the presence of... It's mad,
but I definitely
100% felt something.
It can't hurt to have God and
a bit of faith in your corner,
as well, you know?
Feet.
That back leg.
Time. Good stuff, boys.
Ah, fucking hell, man.
I don't think I can ever
remember the sparring
being this bad for this long.
I feel like I'm just
like not at the races.
I can see it coming,
I can see what to do,
but my body can't pull the trigger.
I feel like my mind is a
bit fucking...hmm, fuck.
Do you know what I mean?
It's doing my fucking head in.
Doing my head in, mate.
Fuck off.
Ah, fuck off!
Obviously, when you do
think about it, you do get
a little bit nervous because what's
at stake here in terms of,
I've got everything to lose,
Jack's got nothing to lose
and everything to gain.
So that little fear factor of
getting beat...is
keeping me on my toes.
I'm not scared or
anything like that,
but I just don't want to lose.
I want to win so much.
Back at my home arena, the Hydro,
where I've had most of my success,
both as an amateur
and a professional,
so I've had plenty of
great nights at Hydro.
Get a wee feeling of nerves
when you look at it.
HE GRUNTS
It's been a long time
coming, this fight.
Everyone's been frustrated for the
last two years,
not being able to
get out, see family,
do this, do that, go
on holidays, socialise.
I'm delighted that it's
back to full capacity.
It's a good feeling for me to be
back boxing in front of crowds.
CHEERING
It feels like I've been away
forever and, yeah, I can't wait.
Josh...
THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER
Josh.
Top man, brother. All the best.
Legend, bro!
Aw, wait!
Josh is the one with
everything to lose,
so that can put you in a
very dangerous position.
And also, the homecoming, you know
he's going to want to put on a show.
When you're at home, all
the pressure's on you.
Everybody's expecting
Josh Taylor to win
and everybody's expecting
a great performance.
And if he doesn't deliver that,
I know Josh himself will
think it's a let down.
It'll be a dangerous fight.
Jack, it's like getting blood
out of a stone with him.
He doesn't say much, but I'm just
going to tell him tomorrow that,
you know, it's game on now.
It's game on now and he
better be ready for a fight.
From Lancashire, England,
Jack "El Gato" Catterall.
Jack Catterall, what
he does in the gym,
no-one's seen it yet
on a fight night.
He's unbelievable
to watch in the gym.
He's a special, special fighter.
You've got the rivalry between
the two fighters,
between the two countries,
Scotland and England,
which has always
been a massive rivalry,
and it's going to be really
passionate in there.
And I think there's always a chance
that Josh could maybe just get
caught up in that a little bit
too much and see red.
This is it now, boy. It's.. This is
it, now. Everything. It's happening.
You're going to get a fucking
pasting. Yeah? We'll see.
Fucking pasting, mate. All right.
Fighters, for the most,
are always a wee bit...
..most of them have a screw loose
and Josh certainly has that.
And, obviously, the nickname
Hank from My, Myself and Irene.
First of all, he looks like him.
He used to have
these stupid haircuts
that were a bit like Hank's.
We can shake hands after,
but right now it's...
We're going to punch each
other's heads in and that's it.
Final word... Couldn't punch
a phone number in, ya cunt.
He has this almost split personality
where, one minute, he's nice
and the next minute he's not,
and it's normally he's not nice
when it gets around fighting.
I was a bit raging with myself
I dropped that C-bomb, like?
Was you? Aye. I was like, "Ah,
fuck."
Either your mum or Danielle,
it's like their heart broke,
and they went, "Urgh!"
LAUGHTER
It would have been...
It would have been my da'.
Would it? It would have been my
da' because my da' always goes,
"Stop fucking swearing
in interviews, man."
I don't get emotionally attached.
I know it looks like it
on fight week sometimes,
with my actions, but
that's just me ready to go.
You ready?
I'm getting to that
frame of mind now
where I don't want to see him,
I don't want to talk to him,
I want to punch him in the face
for the last 17, 18 weeks
he's put me through.
Ah!
He's trying to prevent me
from feeding my family,
putting food on the
table later on in life.
This is what I'm doing this
for, is to, after boxing,
have a good life and
provide for a family
and he's standing in the way of it,
you know, and he's coming
here to try and knock me out
and hurt me, so I don't want
to be friends with him.
IMITATES BORAT: Not!
Having said that, as soon
as a final bell goes,
maybe go for a pint together,
you know,
and then we can be maybe amicable.
But, right now, don't want
anything to do with him.
The best thing I've ever heard
anybody say about boxing,
I don't know who it was,
but it rings true for me
is that boxing is the sport
to which all other sports aspire.
That's beautiful.
LAUGHTER
Every kind of cliche in sport, every
kind of saying and phrase in sport,
it all comes from boxing.
It's sport kind of concentrated,
at its most intense
and its most focused.
I worked in Meadowbank Sports
Centre.
I remember, on his first
bout up at Meadowbank,
he was on the
small hall at the time.
I was like, "Oh, my God."
I was so nervous.
You all right? You all right?
And I remember one of
my managers saying,
"He's going to fill the big
hall in a few years' time,"
but I never, ever thought
that that would be what
his career would be.
Oh, my God. What? I ate that fart.
I don't know what I
thought he would be,
work in Asda maybe, I don't know!
Maybe that would have been better -
it would have been easier.
Oh, let's do it!
INDISTINCSHOUTING
CHEERING
Obviously you've got that feeling
in your stomach, like, that knot.
What's going to happen?
What's going to be the outcome?
Is he going to be
all right in there?
What about if something...?
What if he was to get injured?
As long as Josh goes into that ring,
but comes out the same Josh
as he went in the ring -
that's what I kind
of panic about as well.
SHOUTING
Josh Taylor! Josh Taylor! Go on!
The whole country
is absolutely buzzing.
You can feel it in the hotels -
everywhere you go, it's just...
The atmosphere is amazing
and Josh deserves this.
He deserves this homecoming.
He deserves this crowd.
It's going to be electric.
SINGING FLOWER OF SCOTLAND
# And sent him homeward
tae think again... #
Ah, ya bastard.
HE EXHALES HEAVILY
Josh, when you're ready, sir. Yeah.
Let's go, boys!
Ladies and gentlemen,
the time has come!
The Undisputed Super Lightweight
Championship of the World.
Glasgow, let me hear you!
CHEERING
I think the Scottish are just
intense people
and they're known to have that
fighting spirit,
and that fighting heart.
It's about pride -
it's about what that stands for.
It's about reputation, knowing
that, when he goes to battle,
all these people
are supporting him
and he feels he's got a
responsibility to...
to do them proud.
Scotland's Braveheart tackles
England's mandatory challenger.
CHANTING
It's Rocky, man, you know what I
mean? You're in there
fighting for a country when
you've got that backing.
You've got everybody
going to the Hydro, you know?
You're sort of carrying
the hopes of a nation.
I mean, that's pressure
I couldn't imagine.
What about this atmosphere?
It's the last sort
of gladiator sport.
You've got guys and women in there
battering the life
out of each other.
And you've got all these people,
you're kind of living their dreams
for them, and you cannot switch off.
Jack Catterall is
boxing magnificently.
The crowd right here,
at the Hydro...
Oh, good shot from Catterall.
Getting nailed here.
He's losing the boxing match.
And he floors Taylor,
here, in the 8th round!
What about that?!
Well, this is extraordinary!
My father was a miner
and his grandfathers was miners,
and their fathers were miners
and they were brought up
to be hard in they days.
Josh is like a kind of throwback.
He was brought up the same way.
Years ago, the old miners, you
either went to the pub
or you went to the gym. And his
grandfather boxed,
my father boxed,
all the miners boxed, because
that's all they had to do
when they came
home from their work.
So they were all hardy, hardy men
and Josh is just the same.
You didn't need to teach him it -
it was just natural.
He's really biting down on that
gumshield, Josh Taylor.
THEY CHANT FLOWER OF SCOTLAND
Crowd roaring on.
Referee, come on!
I think there's going to be a
point off for Jack Catterall,
so that's interesting.
Some of these rounds
tough to score.
Good shot from Taylor.
BELL DINGS
Good work from Catterall,
as Taylor came in.
How much holding?!
BELL DINGS
A point off for Josh Taylor.
Josh Taylor's reign
as the Undisputed Super Lightweight
Champion
in real Jeopardy.
ANNOUNCER: 12th and final round.
BELL DINGS
Well, Taylor really
going after him now.
Inside the last minute here.
BELL DINGS
Ladies and gentlemen,
after 12 rounds tonight,
we go to get the judges' scorecards
for the official decision.
Howard Foster scores the
bout 113-112 Catterall.
CROWD BOOS
Ian John-Lewis scores
the bout 114-111 Taylor.
CROWD CHEERS
Victor Loughlin scores the bout
113-112 for your winner
by split decision...
..and STILL...
CROWD CHEERS
..Josh Taylor!
Yass! Come on!
Yo! We don't give a fuck!
That is bullshit.
Everybody knows who the
winner was - Jack Catterall.
Jack Catterall boxed
his fucking head off.
Three rounds. He put him on his
backside as well. And Josh won.
Oh, my God.
I was really, really...
See when he said a split decision...
Oh-ho-ho!
Yeah.
When you're in survival mode
for the last four or five rounds,
judges don't like it
when you're the challenger.
He put a lot of pressure on himself,
though, Josh. A lot of pressure.
Very hard.
HE SIGHS
Pissed off.
I know that I'm 100 times
better than that.
I just felt like a shadow of myself
in the fight, you know,
in terms of reactions and being up
for it and being motivated to win.
I don't know what it was,
but I just felt very frustrated
with the performance that I put on.
After we got back to the post-fight
press conference,
people were sort of
looking sort of surprised
that I thought I'd won,
but it wasn't until
the day after the fight
and I turned my phone back on and it
was just full of abuse,
hateful messages, and then
Danielle started getting it
and my little sister
started getting it.
I was getting comments
underneath a picture
that I'd put up the night
before of me in my outfit
and one guy had said that
I belonged in the ground,
which wasn't that bad.
But then, in my
private messages, that was,
"You're going
to get your throat slit.
"If I ever see you,
you're going to get stabbed,
"you know, stuff like that."
I can remember lying in bed
crying sometimes, you know,
and thinking,
"I can't believe people
"are actually saying this to me."
How can you say that
to someone's family?
You know, it's meant to be
a sport at the end of the day.
It's not anything
to do with my family.
It's nothing to do with me.
I went there and did my job,
and that should be the end of it.
It's three weeks now,
I've had the chance to watch
it back like four times.
You know, it's a close fight.
It's a very close fight.
It could have went either way.
I felt that, if it had went to Jack
by one or two points, that's fine,
you know? I wouldn't have argued.
DOG BARKS
But I felt that I did enough,
just, to win the fight,
and a lot of it's
done to perception,
from that angle or whatever,
you know,
and so the judges saw what they saw
and they're very
well-respected judges.
And it's not my...my
fault that they gave me the win.
Come on, let's go.
He had one-off night and
everyone's jumped on the bandwagon
about how he's a terrible boxer,
and how he's got no class,
how he's terrible for the sport
and stuff like that.
You don't know him.
He's dedicated he's life, he's
dedicated everything to this sport,
and that's what
people are forgetting.
Danielle's my rock, you know?
She's there for me no matter what,
you know?
The good, the bad and the ugly.
We've had a few of these moments
and she's my everything,
she's my world.
Josh now needs to move up
to a different weight class.
You know, he's done
everything at 140.
He's wanting to be a world champion
at welterweight, you know?
He's wanting to chase more dreams.
I can now go ahead and chase the
big goals and the big fights.
I've got two or three years left.
I want to become a two-weight
world champion,
which the fire's fully
burning for me to do.
But there's also a fire burning
there now to have the rematch
with Jack, and fight him again
and prove the doubters wrong.
Jack Catterall boxed
his fucking head off.
I've got a lot of doubters,
but I've proved people
wrong my whole career...
A big left hand drops Jose Ramirez!
..and I plan on keeping to do it.
I think he would rather
die than lose at anything.
He's going to fill the big
hall in a few years' time.
Boxing is the truth.
Josh is like a kind of throwback.
There's definitely something deep
in me that comes from both sides
of my family, of tough
working class fighting men
and that's what I want
to be remembered as,
just a fighter that wasn't
afraid to take on all challenges
and allcomers and give it his all.
very strong language
ANNOUNCER: From Prestonpans,
Edinburgh, Scotland...
..Josh "The Tartan Tornado" Taylor!
When I was in primary school,
I said,
"I want to be rich and famous
like a superstar pop star
"or something, or a footballer"
and never, ever imagined
that it would come true,
or I would be a world champion
boxer, for even that matter.
COMMENTATOR: And Josh Taylor has
won gold at the Commonwealth Games!
I was aware of Josh from right back,
you know, the Lochend Boxing Club.
Everybody in the boxing fraternity
would be talking about him
all the time. It's just been
this kind of relentless rise.
COMMENTATOR: The Tartan Tornado
is world champion
after only 15 professional fights.
People see Fury and AJ as the
top fighters in the UK,
but what Josh Taylor has
done already in his career
has probably surpassed anything
they've done put together.
He's a special, special fighter.
COMMENTATOR: Big left hand
drops Jose Ramirez!
There's only been five other
fighters in boxing history
to have become undisputed
world champion.
The undisputed champion
of the world...
..Josh "The Tartan Tornado" Taylor!
You just see the buzz when Scotland
are playing well,
when Andy Murray's doing well -
and Josh is absolutely
amongst those names.
He's a Scotland great.
And I think what's exciting is he's
nowhere near where he wants to be.
Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall
will battle it out in Glasgow
for the undisputed super lightweight
ten-stone treasure.
It's a completely different pressure
going to the ring as the champion,
with nothing to gain from it.
The moment he steps in through those
ropes, the belts go up in the air.
Every fight that he has now,
it's, "This is his biggest
fight of his career."
And, obviously, it's on home soil
this time, so I think, you know,
you're going to be feeling the
pressure to put a good show on.
Jack Catterall is a very,
very good fighter.
He's beaten every opponent that's
been put in front of him.
But I've got bigger plans and bigger
goals that I've set out to do.
I want to become a two-weight
undisputed world champion,
something that no-one has
ever done in the sport.
That would be me leaving
an everlasting name
and legacy in the sport of boxing.
CHANTING: Chorley! Chorley! Chorley!
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen,
after 12 rounds here
inside OVO Hydro, we go
to the judges' scorecards
for the official decision.
And still undisputed...
CROWD CHEERS
..super lightweight champion
of the world,
The Tartan Tornado,
Josh Taylor!
COMMENTATOR: That is
absolutely stunning!
Josh Taylor retains his titles
on a split decision.
Bullshit! Fucking
cheating...! Bullshit.
# There's only one Josh Taylor!
Come on, Josh!
If this wasn't in Scotland tonight,
Jack would've won.
You know that, I know that.
COMMENTATOR: Take nothing away from
Josh Taylor's effort and his spirit.
But, for us, Jack Catterall
should be the undisputed champion.
Wasn't my best, like, eh?
That's how it is, eh?
I'm all right. Sweet.
You all right? Uh-huh...
Don't feel a thing? Nope. Good.
Oh...
Pissed off.
I just don't get it.
Jack won the fight, for me.
Aye, you're all good.
Aw, fuck!
MOTOR SPUTTERS
Ah, fucking hell...
MOTOR STARTS
MOTOR CUTS OUOh...
I've got to give up.
HE LAUGHS
That's what happens when
you let your grass
grow and grow like a jungle.
MOTOR CUTS OUAh, fuck's sake.
What's going on here?
MOTOR CUTS OUOh...!
Don't you dare put
this on the telly.
I'll sue the hell out of you.
You better no' put this
on the BBC, I'm telling you.
"Cannae even cut his fucking grass."
Aw, man, look at
all that, though, man.
See how perfect the other
side is, Tom?
Beautiful.
FAUX AMERICAN ACCENT: "Beautiful!"
I live in Haddington, which is
about eight miles
just from where I grew
up, in Prestonpans,
and it's about 15 miles
east of Edinburgh.
Neighbours will get some laugh
watching me doing that.
It was a great place to grow up.
We had lots of freedom,
we had the sea on our back door,
we had lots of countryside
on our doorstep.
Quite a tough little place.
You know, you had to
learn to defend yourself
and, you know, look after yourself.
There's not many people where
I'm from, who are my friends,
that didn't grow up fighting.
Prestonpans is an old mining town.
It's escaped the gentrification
that a lot of these towns have had.
Places like Haddington and
North Berwick
have had the influx of
commuters from Edinburgh.
Prestonpans has probably been one
of the towns that's kept it real,
basically, in that
part of the world.
This is a house that
I grew up in - here.
Two-bedroom council house.
Lived here till I was, like,
25, 26 years old, so...
Paddy!
Ah, dear...! That's sweet...!
He used to leave notes about
the house when he was a kid...
..saying he was going
to be world champion.
And we found that.
He must have been about ten.
Oh, he was just so headstrong.
He was competitive
at everything he done.
We could sit and eat a bowl
of cornflakes, and I'll say,
"I'll race you," and he would just
stuff them in his face, just to win.
I just knew way back then
he was a bit special, he was...
He was gonnae be something.
He was funny, he was a funny wee...
He's was a funny lad, eh?
He used to like to take his clothes
off and run about naked... Aye.
..and do the Full Monty and things.
He was really good
at the Full Monty.
The Full Monty would come on...
He would have to start...
Start taking his clothes off..!
I still do want to be a
part of the Full Monty.
"What do you want to be
when you're bigger, Josh?"
"A stripper."
He's just always full of fun.
No, but he wasnae always. He was
a pain in the backside sometimes.
People coming to the door, saying
he'd thrown stones at their windows
and complaining about him
fighting with their boys, and...
Aye, just your usual kid stuff.
That's Josh when he was a baby.
Long legs and long arms.
Look at the state of this.
I had a great upbringing.
My dad was a landscape gardener
for Edinburgh Council.
My mum was a receptionist
at Meadowbank Sports Centre.
They worked every
hour under the sun.
They worked really, really hard
for myself, for my little sister
to enjoy things and have good
clothes, have good stuff.
Sometimes we didn't have enough
to put petrol in the car
to get him to training,
but we got there somehow.
Jamie worked really hard, as well.
He used to work two jobs.
I had two jobs.
It was quite hard.
It was hard going, trying to keep
them getting what they want
and making sure they
were fine for everything.
It did put a lot of strain on mine
and Jamie's marriage at some times.
At first, it was quite a shock to
Finch and Josh that we'd split up,
because we've been together
since we were at high school,
like, 12, 13-year-old, so that's,
like, longer than a lifetime,
And I think it was a shock to quite
a lot of people that we split up.
But, do you know what?
We're getting on fine now.
There's Josh... That's the
craziest person I've ever met.
Who's that?
Diane when she was a lass.
I'm no' really crazy.
I'm quite a nice person.
Dinnae believe him, Tom.
There was always a bit of
tooth and nail with the two of them,
arguing like cat and dog.
I think a lot of it was
because they were spending
all their time working to provide
for myself and Finch.
I think it took its
toll on them sometimes.
You know, they'd let things build
up, build up, and build up,
and then they would explode.
It was crazy at times, and mad at
times, but whose family isn't?
If it wasn't for my mum and dad,
I wouldn't be where I am today.
You know, fact.
They worked their socks off to
give us everything that they had.
Paddy, this way.
As Josh was brought up,
he just went out playing
and running about all the time.
That's all we had to do with him
when we were youngsters
but nowadays, you dinnae see
any kids about the place.
They're all sitting in their houses
playing their PlayStations.
That's what I see as different
about town here, Prestonpans.
I think, you know, a lot of working
class, cos they've been left behind,
and it's not just in Prestonpans.
I mean, I see it where, you know,
where I grew up in Muirhouse,
There's not a lot for them,
and recreational space
is sold off to developers.
You know, you see what happens
is that obesity rates rise.
What Josh has done, and what
leading sports people have done,
they kind of reverse that trend.
They encourage kids to get into
sport, they encourage kids to join
the local boxing club, to join
the local five-a-side league.
But the facilities have to be there.
Otherwise, it's just drugs
and street corners, basically.
This is, like, the bit where we
sort of used to hang around
when we were, like, little kids.
See, the running track's no' in
very good nick any more,
cos the gate's shut,
nobody's using it.
Kids are having to break the things
in the fence just to get in
and get a game of football.
It's quite crap to see.
But there's some lads climbed
in over the fence here,
so we'll go and see what they say.
It's Josh Taylor!
Sting. Aw, what a game that was.
On the seventh goal, you have to
either header it or backheel it in.
Once you get seven in,
you've got to turn around,
put your arse in the air,
and the lads put the ball
on the penalty spot,
and everybody gets a free dig
at your backside.
If you refuse to let
everybody have a shot at you,
you get a thing called
the magic circle.
You've just got to protect yourself,
and everybody gets to set about you.
It's a pretty brutal game, but
it is exciting, it's pretty good.
I used to love playing that
when I was a kid, like.
Is it still the same?
Do you still play the same way?
Seven, and then 14, the
kegs down, and 21, bare arse.
Aye...! Then if nobody...
You get the magic circle.
Aye, magic circle.
Get battered...
That's actually quite nice to
see,that. That's quite funny.
Brings back a lot of memories.
All right, boys?
Away to play football?
There's a wee hole in the fence.
All that hassle to try and
get a wee game of football.
For me, that's shocking.
It should be open.
It used to be free and open.
Can me and my friends
get a group photo?
Of course, lads.
In my fights, when they
get introduced as,
"And from Edinburgh, Josh Taylor..."
Enjoy your game of football. See you
later, wee man.
See yous later, boys.
..I said to a couple of announcers
early on, I says,
"I'm no' from Edinburgh.
"I'd like you to say my
hometown, Prestonpans."
And you had Michael Buffer
shouting it -
"From Prestonpans, Josh Taylor!"
It's brilliant.
I'm really proud of that fact, that
I've put Prestonpans on the map,
and people around here are
proud of that fact, as well.
It gives a lot of the
kids around here...
To reach the heights of where
you want to go, it's not...
you don't have to be
from a certain place.
I'm real, I'm living it.
I'm right there.
Like, if I can do it, the kids
can do what they want, as well.
Is my blue one there? Drying.
Are they? Right, that's fine.
And there's other stuff
in the washing machine.
Are they yours?
Take them if you want...!
They might be quite nice on me.
Wee hot pants.
Oosh!
On Monday, I'm going down to Essex
and back to the gym with my coach,
Ben, and all the lads,
and start training camp.
I will be a wee bit lost,
I think, when he goes back.
My house will be nice and tidy.
He just leaves everything
lying on his backside.
But things get back to business now.
Every fight that he has now,
it's, "This is his biggest
fight in his career.
"And now this is..."
So, every fight is, like,
at the top.
Ready to go.
I might see him, maybe,
three or four times, maybe.
I just feel like he needs
just to have that space,
and just get on with training and...
..just be in the zone.
Sorted.
I've been working with
Josh Taylor for about 18 months,
and his career, up to date,
has been extraordinary.
Josh has achieved numerous
titles throughout his career.
Obviously, an Olympian.
Gold medal at the 2014
Commonwealth Games.
What's happening, mate?
Yeah, good, man.
How are you doing? This is...
I've been away for about six months.
JOSH LAUGHS
When he turned professional,
he took to it like a duck to water.
Josh won his first world title
in just his 15th fight.
He went on to become undisputed
champion in just his 18th fight.
There's four different world titles,
and it's very rare for those
champions to face each other.
When they do, and somebody has
all of the belts - like Josh -
and has beaten every single other
champion in his weight category,
that means you become the
undisputed champion of the world.
Pizza belly, Tom.
Wee dad bod.
Every fight is different.
When they've achieved a goal
they've had for such a long time,
it's a huge relief, and everybody
deals with that differently.
I'm just over 12st, about 12.02st.
12.03st, maybe.
I need to get down to 10st.
I've been known to work with
fighters that really pack on
the weight, so...
Look, it's not the end of the world.
But boxing is the truth.
There's no hiding.
When you get in there,
the truth will come out.
If you've not put the work in,
if you've cut corners,
the truth will come out.
As brutal as it is,
it's beautifully brutal.
I've known Josh for a long time.
I've basically followed Josh's
footsteps from the amateur days.
I don't think we would push
ourselves as much as what we do
if we didn't have each other...
Ah, fucking hell, man.
..because I just feel like you
physically can't push yourself
that much unless you've got someone
there who's maybe just above you.
That's why you get that extra 10-20%
out of yourself in the training.
JOSH EXCLAIMS
Fuck... Eh?
Fuck.
It's a lonely life at times,
you know,
and I'm very lucky that I've got my
little brother, Lee McGregor,
going through the same thing.
So, we kind of bounce off each other
and get each other through it.
Mate, I'll see you in a wee while.
See you in a bit. See you in a bit.
I'm an Edinburgh
lad. I'm a Hearts fan, Jambo,
and Josh is a Hibs fan.
So, it's two Edinburgh teams.
There's needle and there's banter.
It depends how
serious people take it.
Me and Josh are pretty laid back
with it, but when the two teams meet
and they play each other,
we're both, obviously,
winding each other up.
We need to go on the
pitch at half-time,
during a Hibs-Hearts game,
and we need to have a penalty
shoot-out. How good would that be?
Aye, that would be good.
When I'm down in Essex, I live
in a house with five other lads.
We all stay together and live,
breathe and eat boxing together.
Have you had a haircut today, Josh?
Yesterday.
What are you copying my beard for?
Oh. Fucking itching like mad.
Oh. Itching like mad.
I'll keep saying until you answer.
It's itching like mad.
OK, very good!
It's Leo's house.
What a character he is.
Amazing. He's some lad.
Playing his favourite game -
round the board. Right, I'm on ten.
Who's touching...? Sorry, I never
meant it.
Don't touch the light switch.
Wee Scotsman under a bit of pressure
and you're trying to
fuck my game up.
LAUGHTER
Go on, then. What are you on?
Bull's-eye. 25. I'm on 25 now.
What? Have you hit the green one?
I'm on the green now.
There you are.
Just above it. Good marker.
Ho, ho, ho, ho! Oh, what a shot.
That was amazing. That was amazing.
I've shared rooms
with Josh many times
and I just think
he's got so much energy.
I would love to get some
of the energy from him.
I've got clips on my phone from us
in hotel rooms and it's like 12am
and we're sharing the room,
and Josh is up in front of me.
He's shadow boxing and
I'm trying to sleep.
Boom, boom, boom! Ah, shite!
Josh is...
He's an intense character.
Boom, boom, boom! Ah, fuck!
Have a breather. On the next one.
Intensity is the
price of excellence.
So, because he has that mentality
and he's that...that intensity,
whatever he focuses on,
he'll do well on.
Fucking hell. What?
I'm not half breathing.
I've got such high standards
and expectations of myself
that, if I don't meet them
or hit them straight away,
I get a little bit
frustrated with myself.
So is that it? Yeah.
That will do you today.
Will I do one more?
No, that'll do. Six.
People need to hold me back
because then I would go and hit
the bags for as long as I could,
knacker myself out, then
I'd be knackered tomorrow.
I wouldn't be able to train
tomorrow as well or as efficiently
because I'll been knackered
from the day before.
Time.
No, it's not that. It's just...
You say that at every camp!
It's just time, innit?
It takes time to get back
to what you used to.
He's fucking nuts, he is.
He thinks a couple of hard
sessions is going to fix it.
It just takes time.
Right now, the main focus
is basically preparing his body
for the tough task ahead,
to prevent any injuries,
so we make it to the fight
safe and sound, God willing.
COUGHING
Yeah.
HE COUGHS
The cough's still no'
properly cleared up yet.
HE COUGHS
And again. Oh.
I caught Covid as well last month,
so I think it's a
bit of that as well.
Then I caught a chest infection,
then I've picked up my knee injury
and I'm not able to really run
or lift weights properly
or, even in boxing at certain shots
I'm throwing, it's really hurting
my leg and giving me a shooting
pains in my legs.
My body's a little
bit less conditioned
than what is usually is.
You know, that's
probably half the reason
why I've picked
up a couple of injuries.
Nah?
Josh having his injuries and illness
at the moment is an issue.
This is the ultimate prize in boxing
and Jack will be making sure
that he comes at 100%,
so we need to make
sure Josh is 100%.
Unfortunately, we're going
to have to push the fight back.
RADIO: While West Ham brushed aside
Genk by three goals to nothing.
Boxing and Josh Taylor's
December 18th World Title defence
against Jack Catterall
has had to be postponed
after Taylor suffered a knee injury.
The fight in Glasgow will now
go ahead on the new date
of February 26th.
I'm gutted at the fact that I can't
fight the week before Christmas,
having to cancel Christmas
and keep training and...
..keep dedicated, so...
It's hard. Everybody says, "Oh,
you're so lucky you're doing this,
"you're doing that."
But you're away from family.
You're away from
your home comforts,
you're away from your
friends, my fiancee, and...
..putting your body through a
whole lot of torture and pain,
and you're kind of
miserable at times.
You know, it's not all big
lights and glamorous stuff.
You know, it's a very, very
hard way to earn a living.
This is traditional Friday
night if Josh comes home.
I've had two deaths in
the family since...
..and Josh has been, like,
in camp for them as well,
so I know that he felt really bad
because he couldn't be with me.
Times like that,
that's when it's tough.
My dad was such a friendly guy,
the best dad to me and my brother.
Even though you're grieving
and, you know, you're feeling
all these emotions, unfortunately,
you just need to keep going on.
I was on the phone to
Danielle and she was crying
and, you know, I was
trying to play brave.
And I come off the phone and
I'd have a cry myself and, like,
break down in tears and then I'd
have to go to the gym, you know?
And I had to block it out,
and I felt so bad that...
..that I couldn't be there
for them emotionally, you know?
So I still feel bad
about now and...
..I miss James so much as well.
So, yeah, it was hard. Yeah.
Being with someone
that's in sports,
there's always something
going on in our lives,
so there's always
something to focus on.
And just now, obviously,
it's Josh's fight.
And then obviously the wedding,
the wedding preparations
are keeping me busy.
What's happening? All right? Hi.
We've been together 11 years now,
so we've been together a long time.
We never really had a normal
relationship, so to speak,
because I was always
away and training,
and so we never really got to spend
an awful lot of time together.
So, when I did come back,
we would go and do stuff,
stuff that was a luxury for us,
even just going for something to eat
together, going to the pictures,
or even just go on a drive,
spend a bit of time together.
If I was maybe not enjoying boxing
at times, struggling with stuff,
she was like, "Keep at it.
This is your dream.
"It's your goal. Keep at it.
You can do it."
And she's been at my
back the whole way.
We actually met through my cousin.
Josh comes up drunk and
he sits down beside me,
and I'm like, "Hiya."
And he went,
"I hear that you're into me
and that you think I'm tidy."
And I just turned round and I'm
like, "Who the fuck are you?"
"I didn't know who he was!"
And both of us turned
round and looked at my cousin,
and he was, like,
killing himself laughing.
And then we just got talking
after that because obviously Josh
knew then that it was
kind of like a set-up.
So with that night we just
sat and chatted for ages,
and had a wee dance together.
He made me feel at ease with him.
He was always giving me compliments.
And, still to this day, I'm not a
very confident person within myself
and I always kind of bring myself
down and he's like, "No, no, no.
"You know, you're this, you're
that, you're beautiful,"
and, you know, all that stuff.
And I think really, he's helped
me grow as a person as well.
How many's coming in the bus?
How many's coming in this?
I'll jump in the bus.
I'll go in the bus.
This is my cousin David, and cousin
Stuart, and my cousin Steven.
All right?
La familia.
LAUGHTER
Used to wind me up something rotten
all the time when I was a,
when I was a kid, like, but...
Cannae do it now, can you?! No.
We're on the way through to Glasgow,
getting sized up for the kilts
and get all measured up to get all
the stuff sorted for the wedding.
You know, just when we're getting
married, it's nice to keep
the family tradition and
the tartan and that alive.
Also, on the day, I'll
be true Scotsman as well,
so better put some Vaseline
on for the old chafing.
WOLF WHISTLES
What do you think, boys?
How you doing? Looking smart.
That is nice.
Oh, perfect, man.
It's quality, innit?
During the kilt fitting,
I met a young lad that wanted me
to sign a set of gloves for him.
So, what are you
studying at college?
His mother sources the tartan
and the stuff for the shop.
He told me he'd been struggling
from autism
and boxing really,
really helped him.
It's good that you...got
through it yourself,
improved, socially and
everything, it's amazing.
That's really cheered me up, that.
He was getting bullied at school
and things like that,
and he went to the boxing gym and
says within a couple of weeks,
he kind of started making friends
and started coming out
of his shell a wee bit
and was able to talk to people.
He's at college now,
he's doing computing and stuff.
Maybe see you at a club show
or fighting one day, maybe.
Let me know when you're fighting and
I'll come along and watch you.
He wouldn't stop smiling at all.
Good on him.
Amazing, man. Brilliant.
I'll go home and greet about that.
Yeah, I was just thinking... It's
quite inspirational. It's nice.
It's brilliant, especially...
You hear things like that,
what boxing can do for people,
not just fighting... Brings you out
your shell, aye. Aye. It's amazing,
like, what it can do. Brilliant.
Believe it or not, as a kid,
I was quite shy in terms of what I
wanted to get and go after things,
and I never really
believed in myself.
Boxing helped me in that
way and helped me grow
self-confidence and self-belief,
and gave me my self-worth.
Everyone else sort of seen the
talent that I had except for me.
He came in the gym one
night with his father,
looking for some sparring.
You see if they've got a
bit pop in their punches
and that's really the first
thing, you think, "Oh, wow,
"this guy's genetically strong."
And then you look for a
bit of speed.
Through time, you look to see
if they're going to stick it
because a lot of kids that come in,
they'll maybe be here two or three
weeks
and then you dinnae see them again,
but Josh was different.
He... He just kept turning up and,
you know, and never
missed a session.
I think he would rather
die than lose at anything.
Anything... Even
walking along the street...
..I want to beat people at walking.
So competitive.
I've never met anyone that's had
a bad word to say about Terry.
You know, I love him.
You know, he's been there
for me since I was 17.
You know, I could go to him and
talk to him about any problems
that I had in my life and he would
give me sound advice all the time.
He goes out of his way to
help people in the community.
People go from all over
the place to Lochend now
because Terry is just...is a
good guy and he'll help you.
There's not much in Lochend.
There's like a football boys' club
up the road and there's us,
but we care for everyone
and it's a right community gym.
There's a lot of mental health
going around just now
through COVID and stuff, people
being locked down and that.
I just don't understand
why they lock gyms
and open like McDonald's
and KFC and stuff.
The mental health and the
suicides went through the roof.
You had them
running out on the beach,
in the freezing cold, and all that.
Aye, it was bad, bad times,
what the government done with Covid,
shutting people's lives down.
Josh has done amazing things
for Scottish boxing.
They see him coming
out of this wee hut
in Lochend and they think,
"We can do it."
He's made them believe. Scotland
used to be kind of the whipping dog
of the boxing world.
If you got drawn a Scottish guy
back in the day, it was like a bye.
Now, the world is like,
"That Josh Taylor is Scottish.
"They must be good boxers."
Josh has inspired these kids
to push on and go for the medals
in the big tournaments.
You'd be here all night.
If it was up to you, you'd
never get away from here.
The journey has just
been like a dream, eh?
I mean, it's everybody's dream to
be part of a journey
that involves somebody winning
everything right up to the pinnacle
of a world title and
then becoming undisputed.
To be part of that is just,
it's a special, special moment.
Last week, Ben said that he was
going to Vegas for a number of weeks
and I just said, "Yeah,
sign me up. I'm coming."
We are all going over there
for like three or four weeks,
myself and Lee McGregor getting a
good bit of training camp done
and get where we want to be.
All the massive fights have
been in Vegas and my best fight,
my biggest achievement,
was in Vegas as well.
Welcome inside the brand-new Virgin
Hotel, here in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was a good, hostile
atmosphere, in the lion's den,
because obviously it
was restricted crowd.
It was only, I think,
1,000 people in
and the majority were for Ramirez.
Good left hand. Drops Jose Ramirez.
I genuinely started to get
worried at one point
because...because it was four
in the morning and I was steaming.
But also it seemed so one-sided
that you felt something
was going to go wrong,
you're going to get caught with a
lucky punch or something
and go down, but he just
never looked in trouble.
And for a fight of that magnitude,
it just shows you how
far Josh has come.
Great memories, you know,
memories that will last me
for the rest of my life.
ANNOUNCER: Josh Taylor!
With it being my best
achievement in my career,
it was a little bit tainted
because COVID
and the restrictions with travelling
and getting into America,
the people that mean the most to me
couldn't come with me
and share that moment.
I'm still super
happy with what I did,
but I believe we can go back
and I'll keep winning,
and we can go back and do it again.
It would be nice to experience
what most people come over here
to experience, but I'm afraid
we've got different dreams.
I've come here with less tan
than I came - even more pale -
so I've not seen any sun at all.
We've been just seeing
the gym and the house,
and the gym and the house.
Only a couple of times we've
had the opportunity to get out
and actually explore a little
bit of the strip and stuff,
so it's not all glamorous.
It's more work than it is glamour.
I'd love to have a night here,
no training, just come here and
experience it properly.
It'd be class.
Vegas must be a hard place
to do a training camp
because you're seeing everything
that you could be doing
if you were on a holiday
and the lads need to live like
monks when they're in camp.
I love it here.
My wife's from here -
it's why we got the place.
I didn't realise how much
I kind of needed this place,
you know...the anonymity,
and I think Josh has
enjoyed that as well.
I've known Martin
now for about six years.
He's Scotland's
sweetheart, you know?
Everyone loves him in Scotland
and he's a real cool guy.
He's been to a lot of my
fights and he supports me.
I don't know about you, but I'm
freezing my tits off here.
This is like being
back in Scotland, man.
They've went soft. Losing weight.
Had that nice weather.
There you go, son.
No, I'm all right!
He's a fucking madman.
He's a great lad,
loyal to his family, loyal to his
pals, but he is a headcase.
Erm... But I think you've got to
have that to be a top level...
You've got to have something...
That killer instinct. You've got
to have a bit of danger about you,
you've got to have
something, that adrenaline,
because you always... Aye, very nice
words, Martin. Thanks very much.
Speaking very nicely to me!
Look, the boy's got a great heart
but he is a bit of a madman, you
know, and I think he's a character,
and I think, in sport,
people do respond to that.
They respond to people
that speak their mind.
Sometimes I'll say things
and I don't realise
what I'm saying can be huge.
I forget about the effect
it can have on other people
because I don't see
myself as a celebrity,
and I don't see myself
as anything special.
I think he needs to realise now,
where he's at in his career,
anything he says is going
to be under a microscope.
Anything, any opinion he's got,
anything he's ever done,
people are going to look at
that and, if they can use it,
it will be used to batter you over
the head
because there's always people
that want to see you fail.
I sort of wear my
heart on my sleeve.
I'm an honest person and maybe
say some stupid things every now
and again, but it's never
with bad intentions.
I don't believe in
putting on a persona.
If you put on a persona,
you've got to maintain an image.
I'm just myself. I'm just one of the
best in the world at what he does
and lives for it, and
dedicates himself to his craft.
I'm just a...down to Earth, working
class lad at the end of the day.
We're off on our way to church,
Sunday ritual, wherever we go,
for training camps.
So...it'll be eventful.
It's hard to explain.
I don't categorise myself in being
a Christian or being a Muslim.
I just feel like I have my
own relationship with God.
I always go to...to the church,
while I'm away on training camp
especially, and become
good friends with a pastor.
So the boys come along with me
and they seem to enjoy it as well.
People watching from Australia,
they're watching from all around the
world, maybe even from Scotland,
or from England, my friend,
the great trainer, Ben Davidson.
Josh Taylor. I saw Lee again,
a tremendous boxer.
But I'm going to ask everybody to
stretch their hands
to them right now.
And I want you just to begin
to pray for these four men
who came to church.
I want you to pray that,
as they fly back to
England and to Scotland,
that they're going to feel
the love of a church.
And I want to just tell
you something.
You're just not normal guys.
You have a huge, huge destiny.
And they're warriors.
I want to be more like
them when I grow up.
I want to be more
like them in my future.
I want to be a warrior for God.
Can everybody pray
as we sing this song?
He just said he sees things in me,
he sees the word "inspiration"
and that over me,
and to help people and drive people
on and helping people in the future
and that. I swear, as soon as
the prayer was almost finished,
I felt like a warm sensation
going through my body,
like the presence of... It's mad,
but I definitely
100% felt something.
It can't hurt to have God and
a bit of faith in your corner,
as well, you know?
Feet.
That back leg.
Time. Good stuff, boys.
Ah, fucking hell, man.
I don't think I can ever
remember the sparring
being this bad for this long.
I feel like I'm just
like not at the races.
I can see it coming,
I can see what to do,
but my body can't pull the trigger.
I feel like my mind is a
bit fucking...hmm, fuck.
Do you know what I mean?
It's doing my fucking head in.
Doing my head in, mate.
Fuck off.
Ah, fuck off!
Obviously, when you do
think about it, you do get
a little bit nervous because what's
at stake here in terms of,
I've got everything to lose,
Jack's got nothing to lose
and everything to gain.
So that little fear factor of
getting beat...is
keeping me on my toes.
I'm not scared or
anything like that,
but I just don't want to lose.
I want to win so much.
Back at my home arena, the Hydro,
where I've had most of my success,
both as an amateur
and a professional,
so I've had plenty of
great nights at Hydro.
Get a wee feeling of nerves
when you look at it.
HE GRUNTS
It's been a long time
coming, this fight.
Everyone's been frustrated for the
last two years,
not being able to
get out, see family,
do this, do that, go
on holidays, socialise.
I'm delighted that it's
back to full capacity.
It's a good feeling for me to be
back boxing in front of crowds.
CHEERING
It feels like I've been away
forever and, yeah, I can't wait.
Josh...
THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER
Josh.
Top man, brother. All the best.
Legend, bro!
Aw, wait!
Josh is the one with
everything to lose,
so that can put you in a
very dangerous position.
And also, the homecoming, you know
he's going to want to put on a show.
When you're at home, all
the pressure's on you.
Everybody's expecting
Josh Taylor to win
and everybody's expecting
a great performance.
And if he doesn't deliver that,
I know Josh himself will
think it's a let down.
It'll be a dangerous fight.
Jack, it's like getting blood
out of a stone with him.
He doesn't say much, but I'm just
going to tell him tomorrow that,
you know, it's game on now.
It's game on now and he
better be ready for a fight.
From Lancashire, England,
Jack "El Gato" Catterall.
Jack Catterall, what
he does in the gym,
no-one's seen it yet
on a fight night.
He's unbelievable
to watch in the gym.
He's a special, special fighter.
You've got the rivalry between
the two fighters,
between the two countries,
Scotland and England,
which has always
been a massive rivalry,
and it's going to be really
passionate in there.
And I think there's always a chance
that Josh could maybe just get
caught up in that a little bit
too much and see red.
This is it now, boy. It's.. This is
it, now. Everything. It's happening.
You're going to get a fucking
pasting. Yeah? We'll see.
Fucking pasting, mate. All right.
Fighters, for the most,
are always a wee bit...
..most of them have a screw loose
and Josh certainly has that.
And, obviously, the nickname
Hank from My, Myself and Irene.
First of all, he looks like him.
He used to have
these stupid haircuts
that were a bit like Hank's.
We can shake hands after,
but right now it's...
We're going to punch each
other's heads in and that's it.
Final word... Couldn't punch
a phone number in, ya cunt.
He has this almost split personality
where, one minute, he's nice
and the next minute he's not,
and it's normally he's not nice
when it gets around fighting.
I was a bit raging with myself
I dropped that C-bomb, like?
Was you? Aye. I was like, "Ah,
fuck."
Either your mum or Danielle,
it's like their heart broke,
and they went, "Urgh!"
LAUGHTER
It would have been...
It would have been my da'.
Would it? It would have been my
da' because my da' always goes,
"Stop fucking swearing
in interviews, man."
I don't get emotionally attached.
I know it looks like it
on fight week sometimes,
with my actions, but
that's just me ready to go.
You ready?
I'm getting to that
frame of mind now
where I don't want to see him,
I don't want to talk to him,
I want to punch him in the face
for the last 17, 18 weeks
he's put me through.
Ah!
He's trying to prevent me
from feeding my family,
putting food on the
table later on in life.
This is what I'm doing this
for, is to, after boxing,
have a good life and
provide for a family
and he's standing in the way of it,
you know, and he's coming
here to try and knock me out
and hurt me, so I don't want
to be friends with him.
IMITATES BORAT: Not!
Having said that, as soon
as a final bell goes,
maybe go for a pint together,
you know,
and then we can be maybe amicable.
But, right now, don't want
anything to do with him.
The best thing I've ever heard
anybody say about boxing,
I don't know who it was,
but it rings true for me
is that boxing is the sport
to which all other sports aspire.
That's beautiful.
LAUGHTER
Every kind of cliche in sport, every
kind of saying and phrase in sport,
it all comes from boxing.
It's sport kind of concentrated,
at its most intense
and its most focused.
I worked in Meadowbank Sports
Centre.
I remember, on his first
bout up at Meadowbank,
he was on the
small hall at the time.
I was like, "Oh, my God."
I was so nervous.
You all right? You all right?
And I remember one of
my managers saying,
"He's going to fill the big
hall in a few years' time,"
but I never, ever thought
that that would be what
his career would be.
Oh, my God. What? I ate that fart.
I don't know what I
thought he would be,
work in Asda maybe, I don't know!
Maybe that would have been better -
it would have been easier.
Oh, let's do it!
INDISTINCSHOUTING
CHEERING
Obviously you've got that feeling
in your stomach, like, that knot.
What's going to happen?
What's going to be the outcome?
Is he going to be
all right in there?
What about if something...?
What if he was to get injured?
As long as Josh goes into that ring,
but comes out the same Josh
as he went in the ring -
that's what I kind
of panic about as well.
SHOUTING
Josh Taylor! Josh Taylor! Go on!
The whole country
is absolutely buzzing.
You can feel it in the hotels -
everywhere you go, it's just...
The atmosphere is amazing
and Josh deserves this.
He deserves this homecoming.
He deserves this crowd.
It's going to be electric.
SINGING FLOWER OF SCOTLAND
# And sent him homeward
tae think again... #
Ah, ya bastard.
HE EXHALES HEAVILY
Josh, when you're ready, sir. Yeah.
Let's go, boys!
Ladies and gentlemen,
the time has come!
The Undisputed Super Lightweight
Championship of the World.
Glasgow, let me hear you!
CHEERING
I think the Scottish are just
intense people
and they're known to have that
fighting spirit,
and that fighting heart.
It's about pride -
it's about what that stands for.
It's about reputation, knowing
that, when he goes to battle,
all these people
are supporting him
and he feels he's got a
responsibility to...
to do them proud.
Scotland's Braveheart tackles
England's mandatory challenger.
CHANTING
It's Rocky, man, you know what I
mean? You're in there
fighting for a country when
you've got that backing.
You've got everybody
going to the Hydro, you know?
You're sort of carrying
the hopes of a nation.
I mean, that's pressure
I couldn't imagine.
What about this atmosphere?
It's the last sort
of gladiator sport.
You've got guys and women in there
battering the life
out of each other.
And you've got all these people,
you're kind of living their dreams
for them, and you cannot switch off.
Jack Catterall is
boxing magnificently.
The crowd right here,
at the Hydro...
Oh, good shot from Catterall.
Getting nailed here.
He's losing the boxing match.
And he floors Taylor,
here, in the 8th round!
What about that?!
Well, this is extraordinary!
My father was a miner
and his grandfathers was miners,
and their fathers were miners
and they were brought up
to be hard in they days.
Josh is like a kind of throwback.
He was brought up the same way.
Years ago, the old miners, you
either went to the pub
or you went to the gym. And his
grandfather boxed,
my father boxed,
all the miners boxed, because
that's all they had to do
when they came
home from their work.
So they were all hardy, hardy men
and Josh is just the same.
You didn't need to teach him it -
it was just natural.
He's really biting down on that
gumshield, Josh Taylor.
THEY CHANT FLOWER OF SCOTLAND
Crowd roaring on.
Referee, come on!
I think there's going to be a
point off for Jack Catterall,
so that's interesting.
Some of these rounds
tough to score.
Good shot from Taylor.
BELL DINGS
Good work from Catterall,
as Taylor came in.
How much holding?!
BELL DINGS
A point off for Josh Taylor.
Josh Taylor's reign
as the Undisputed Super Lightweight
Champion
in real Jeopardy.
ANNOUNCER: 12th and final round.
BELL DINGS
Well, Taylor really
going after him now.
Inside the last minute here.
BELL DINGS
Ladies and gentlemen,
after 12 rounds tonight,
we go to get the judges' scorecards
for the official decision.
Howard Foster scores the
bout 113-112 Catterall.
CROWD BOOS
Ian John-Lewis scores
the bout 114-111 Taylor.
CROWD CHEERS
Victor Loughlin scores the bout
113-112 for your winner
by split decision...
..and STILL...
CROWD CHEERS
..Josh Taylor!
Yass! Come on!
Yo! We don't give a fuck!
That is bullshit.
Everybody knows who the
winner was - Jack Catterall.
Jack Catterall boxed
his fucking head off.
Three rounds. He put him on his
backside as well. And Josh won.
Oh, my God.
I was really, really...
See when he said a split decision...
Oh-ho-ho!
Yeah.
When you're in survival mode
for the last four or five rounds,
judges don't like it
when you're the challenger.
He put a lot of pressure on himself,
though, Josh. A lot of pressure.
Very hard.
HE SIGHS
Pissed off.
I know that I'm 100 times
better than that.
I just felt like a shadow of myself
in the fight, you know,
in terms of reactions and being up
for it and being motivated to win.
I don't know what it was,
but I just felt very frustrated
with the performance that I put on.
After we got back to the post-fight
press conference,
people were sort of
looking sort of surprised
that I thought I'd won,
but it wasn't until
the day after the fight
and I turned my phone back on and it
was just full of abuse,
hateful messages, and then
Danielle started getting it
and my little sister
started getting it.
I was getting comments
underneath a picture
that I'd put up the night
before of me in my outfit
and one guy had said that
I belonged in the ground,
which wasn't that bad.
But then, in my
private messages, that was,
"You're going
to get your throat slit.
"If I ever see you,
you're going to get stabbed,
"you know, stuff like that."
I can remember lying in bed
crying sometimes, you know,
and thinking,
"I can't believe people
"are actually saying this to me."
How can you say that
to someone's family?
You know, it's meant to be
a sport at the end of the day.
It's not anything
to do with my family.
It's nothing to do with me.
I went there and did my job,
and that should be the end of it.
It's three weeks now,
I've had the chance to watch
it back like four times.
You know, it's a close fight.
It's a very close fight.
It could have went either way.
I felt that, if it had went to Jack
by one or two points, that's fine,
you know? I wouldn't have argued.
DOG BARKS
But I felt that I did enough,
just, to win the fight,
and a lot of it's
done to perception,
from that angle or whatever,
you know,
and so the judges saw what they saw
and they're very
well-respected judges.
And it's not my...my
fault that they gave me the win.
Come on, let's go.
He had one-off night and
everyone's jumped on the bandwagon
about how he's a terrible boxer,
and how he's got no class,
how he's terrible for the sport
and stuff like that.
You don't know him.
He's dedicated he's life, he's
dedicated everything to this sport,
and that's what
people are forgetting.
Danielle's my rock, you know?
She's there for me no matter what,
you know?
The good, the bad and the ugly.
We've had a few of these moments
and she's my everything,
she's my world.
Josh now needs to move up
to a different weight class.
You know, he's done
everything at 140.
He's wanting to be a world champion
at welterweight, you know?
He's wanting to chase more dreams.
I can now go ahead and chase the
big goals and the big fights.
I've got two or three years left.
I want to become a two-weight
world champion,
which the fire's fully
burning for me to do.
But there's also a fire burning
there now to have the rematch
with Jack, and fight him again
and prove the doubters wrong.
Jack Catterall boxed
his fucking head off.
I've got a lot of doubters,
but I've proved people
wrong my whole career...
A big left hand drops Jose Ramirez!
..and I plan on keeping to do it.
I think he would rather
die than lose at anything.
He's going to fill the big
hall in a few years' time.
Boxing is the truth.
Josh is like a kind of throwback.
There's definitely something deep
in me that comes from both sides
of my family, of tough
working class fighting men
and that's what I want
to be remembered as,
just a fighter that wasn't
afraid to take on all challenges
and allcomers and give it his all.