Josh Taylor: Portrait of a Fighter

This programme contains very strong language

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.

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.

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.

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.

Chorley! Chorley! Chorley!

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!

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.

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 OUT

Oh...

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 OUT

Ah, fuck's sake.

What's going on here?

MOTOR CUTS OUT

Oh...!

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.

"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