Eddie Hearn is interested in signing Josh Taylor and making a quick bid rebuild work on him before throwing him into the Sharks at 140. The soon-to-be 34-year-old former undisputed light welterweight champion and two-time Olympian Taylor (19-2, 13 KOs) has lost his last two fights and is winless since 2022.
The rebuild Hearn plans to do with Taylor is likely to be similar to how he rebuilt Anthony Joshua by feeding him second rate opposition to make him look like 24k gold before throwing him in with a live shark at 140 and watch the feeding frenzy.
It would be a good idea for Hearn not to invest as much time and effort into the rebuild as he did with Joshua, as it chewed up two years of his career. What a waste.
Hearn could use Taylor as an opponent for his Matchroom fighters, Subriel Matias, Regis Progais, Liam Paro, Richardson Hitchins and Jack Catterall. Taylor has already fought Catterall twice, so there is less need for a third after he was beaten in their rematch last May.
It would be better for Hearn to start matching Catterall against better fighters than to continue the repeat cycle with Taylor. The rivalry has already been played out. If all Caterall is going to do in his career is fight Taylor over and over, that’s pathetic.
It will likely be a short contract that Hearn gives Taylor, similar to the one he gave Shakur Stevenson on his bailout job for the struggling New Jersey native.
It would be insane for Hearn to sign Taylor to a six-fight contract and see him lose his next fight to a lower-level guy. Taylor has likely lost his last three fights since 2022, and one of those losses was a one-sided 12-round decision loss to Teofimo Lopez.
It was embarrassing to see how knocked out Taylor looked, losing to a fighter who was considered to be on the downside of his career. Teofimo has looked terrible in three of his last four fights. The only one he did well in was against Josh.
Hearn says the “numbers” have to work for him to sing Scottish fighter Taylor for his Matchroom Boxing company. He points out that Taylor has been used to making big bucks for his fights in the past.
With a record of 0-2 in his last two fights, Taylor may have to lower his asking price if he wants to be inked by Hearn on one of his rescue missions.
“We talked to him. I really like Josh. It should work for everyone, and that includes us. Of course, he’s used to making a lot of money, and there’s a bit of a rebuild to do, in my opinion. I think we want to build some momentum, said Eddie Hearn iFL TVtalks about wanting to sign former undisputed light welterweight champion Josh Taylor to his Matchroom company.
If Taylor wants a fortune signing to Matchroom, it won’t work. He may still consider himself a world champion, and that could be a problem because those years are long gone. He gave up his belts, and was then beaten by the washed-up Teofimo, who made him look better than he actually is at this stage of his sinking career.
“Obviously those fights, the rebuilding fights, are not necessarily going to be (Liam) Paro and (Jack) Catterall 3. There is a small stage. It should work for everyone on the numbers, but if it does, I’d love to bring Josh to Matchroom. If the numbers don’t work, he might look elsewhere. He’s a good fighter, and I still think he’s got a lot going for him,” Hearn said.
