| THE RETURN OF Josh Taylor to the ring at welterweight against the WBO European champion Ekow Essuman will take place at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on Saturday, 24 May, live on DAZN Tickets for Land of the Brave go on sale at 10am on Friday, 7 March from ticketmaster.co.uk. Also featuring on the card is a featherweight cracker between the unbeaten former British champion Nathaniel Collins (15-0, 7 KOs) and former European bantamweight champion Lee McGregor (15-1-1, 11 KOs) in an all-Scottish showdown for the prestigious WBC Silver championship. And at cruiserweight, the WBA Continental champion Aloys Jr (9-1, 8KOs) will take on a Scottish challenge from David Jamieson (13-3, 10 KOs) from East Kilbride. There is a Glasgow derby at middleweight with Aston Brown (7-0, 2KOs) will take on Reece Porter (5-0, 3 KOs) over 10 rounds for the Scottish title, along with a fourth professional fight over six rounds at super welterweight for recent Queensberry signing Drew Limond (3-0). Sunderland favourite and British Olympian Luke McCormack (3-0, 2 KOs) will fight over eight at super lightweight, with Perth lightweight Luke Bibby (9-0, 2 KOs) in six round action. Glasgow will witness the professional debut of new Queensberry signing Alex Arthur Jr at light heavyweight over four rounds, with super lightweight Lee Welsh (4-0, 1 KO) from Stirling, super bantamweight Marcus Sutherland (6-0, 4 KOs) from Shotts and light heavyweight Sean Lazzerini (2-0, 1 KO) from Glasgow all fighting over the four-round distance. JOSH TAYLOR (19-2, 13 KOs), now 34, the former undisputed world champion at super lightweight, steps up to welterweight after being edged out on points in the rematch of his controversial encounter with Jack Catterall in early 2022. A son of Edinburgh, Taylor made his professional debut back in 2015 following an amateur career that saw him win silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and gold at the 2014 edition. He also featured at the 2012 London Olympics and represented the British Lionhearts in the World Series of Boxing In just his seventh fight as a pro, Taylor fought for and won the Commonwealth title at super lightweight by defeating Dave Ryan and he defended the title on two occasions, including a memorable domestic classic against Ohara Davies, a fight in which he also became WBC Silver champion. His WBC Silver status was defended four times against opponents of the stature of Viktor Postal and Ryan Martin before a maiden world title shot came in May 2019. Ivan Baranchyk was defeated on points in Glasgow, where Taylor became IBF world super lightweight champion and he doubled his world title tally five months later my memorably overcoming the previously unbeaten American Regis Prograis in London. The Prograis triumph also saw him crowned winner of the World Boxing Super Series. His next fight saw him become undisputed champion by defeating the again unbeaten Californian Jose Ramirez, the WBC and WBO champion, in Las Vegas. Then came the first Catterall fight in Glasgow, after which Taylor was unable to maintain all of his world title obligations, but he defended his WBO belt in New York against great American hope Teofimo Lopez, but fell to a decision defeat. EKOW ESSUMAN (21-1, 8 KOs) is the WBO European welterweight champion, having defeated former holder Owen Cooper in July and another unbeaten challenger, Ben Vaughan in November. Previously Essuman held the WBC International Silver, British, Commonwealth and IBF European titles. He waited more than a year to challenge Chris Jenkins for his British and Commonwealth welterweight titles, with postponements delaying his chance until July of 2021. The man nicknamed ‘The Engine’ made no mistake, coming on strong in the middle rounds before the gutsy Welshman was rescued in the eighth round. He then defended his titles in thrilling fashion, knocking out Danny Ball in the sixth round in October 2021. A left-right combination did the damage and left Ball with a fractured jaw and in agony as he was counted out. As an amateur, Ekow was a GB Podium squad member, and improved with every fight since turning professional in 2016. Crucially he holds genuine confidence that he is going to mix it with the very best and impressed again on the big stage in April 2022 when he fought and beat Darren Tetley at Wembley Stadium on the undercard of the big Fury-Whyte showdown. Essuman reinforced his position in September 2022 when he won his British title outright by making a third successful defence against mandatory challenger Samuel Antwi in Manchester, via a unanimous decision. In November 2023 in Manchester, Essuman came unstuck for the first time in a fourth defence of his domestic title against Derby rival Harry Scarff as part of the spectacular Magnificent 7 show. He returned to winning ways in a thriller against Cooper and is now targeting International honours and bidding to climb the WBO rankings. Tickets for Land of the Brave go on sale at 10am on Friday, 7 March from ticketmaster.co.uk. |
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