Former undisputed junior welterweight world champion Josh Taylor is not planning to take his foot off the gas when he steps in the ring with Teofimo Lopez on June 10 at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden in New York City.
After uniting all four world titles, Taylor would drop the WBC, WBA and IBF titles due to mandatory orders. Only the WBO belt remains around his waist.
Taylor has been out of the ring for over a year. In his last fight, Taylor picked up a controversial twelve round split decision win over Jack Catterall.
Several attempts to make the rematch with Catterall were unsuccessful, as the date continued to get pushed back for a variety of reasons.
The WBO would eventually order Taylor to face Lopez.
Taylor explains that he’s never been as disciplined as he’s been today.
“I’m absolutely laser-focused this time,” Taylor told Sky Sports. “That’s the mistake I made last time, I was losing sight of what was in front of me, dropping the ball in terms of focus and motivation.
“Its not an easy task but I’m definitely doing it much better this time. The last time around, I had a lack of discipline, a lack of motivation and that crept into the full performance. I never prepared well and, ‘fail to prepare, you prepare to fail’. I almost did fail last time.
“A little bit of complacency had crept in from where I had just been, it felt like I had just climbed Mount Everest in becoming undisputed world champion and I went out and enjoyed life a bit too much, ate a bit too much food, drank a little bit too much, had a bit too much pizza. I definitely learned that lesson, I will not be making that mistake again.”
Lopez, a former unified world champion, suffered a shock defeat to George Kambosos in 2021.
Since then, Lopez has bounced back with two wins.
Taylor is very eager to make a statement when they get in the ring.
“I feel great. I feel like I’ve got my feet back underneath me again… back to my old self. I feel brand new, reborn again! I’m firing on all cylinders and can’t wait to go in a few weeks time,” Taylor said.
“Given what I’ve achieved in 19 fights, I need fights like this that are going to get that fire in my belly and the nervous butterflies that keeps my motivation going, my hunger going and the fire burning in my stomach. Boxing at Madison Square Garden where everyone dreams of boxing and I’ve always said that I want to box there one day. I’m just so buzzing to get over there and get stuck in amongst it.”