Josh Taylor and Ekow Essuman previewed their bout and went face-to-face at the final press conference. The pair battle it out in the main event at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland on Saturday, May 24. The contest is scheduled for 10 rounds at welterweight.
Taylor (19-2, 13 KOs) makes his 147-pound debut and looks to get back in the win column. The 34-year-old Edinburgh southpaw is coming off a defeat by unanimous decision in a rematch with Jack Catterall last May. The former undisputed 140-pound champion looks to conquer a new division.
“It is great to be back here, and this has been my home since the Commonwealth Games,” Josh Taylor said. “I’ve had most of my big fights here – Victor Postol, my first world title against Ivan Baranchyk – so I’ve had most of my big nights here. I am looking forward to getting back. It has been a little while since I’ve been here, so I am looking to put on a big show on Saturday.”
“Obviously, training has been gruesome and hard, hard work, but it feels like I am at holiday camp this week. No dieting, cutting weight, or drying out tonight, getting the last bit of water you can out of you. There is none of that this week; I am full of beans, full of energy, with a spring in my step. I can’t wait to get going on Saturday.”
“I will get this journey rebooted and kickstarted again. Take care of business on Saturday, do it in a good fashion, and look forward to moving on to big fights in the future.”
“At 140 lbs, what else was there left for me to do? I’d completed boxing in a sense and won every single belt in boxing you can win. What else was there for me in terms of challenges and setting new targets? There was nothing to do. So, what there was, was moving up with an assault on becoming a two-time, two-weight world champion.”
“I am planning on taking this guy out on Saturday, and that is what I’m going to do.”
‘I am used to being the away fighter’
Essuman (21-1, 8 KOs) of Botswana is riding a two-fight winning streak. The Nottingham, England-based 36-year-old said he came prepared and was ready to take on “the best Josh Taylor there can be.”
“Thank you to everyone in Glasgow for accepting me. Everyone has been extremely welcoming, and it is a beautiful place. I am just happy to be here,” Ekow Essuman said.
“That is the whole point of it – we’re supposed to do that [in response to Taylor’s ‘taking out’ comment]. I don’t take offence to it. It is what it is. He’s in my way, I’m in his way.”
“Of course he believes it, he should. That is good. If he wants to try and end it early, it might be to his detriment. We are going to find out on Saturday. I came prepared for the best Josh Taylor there can be, so this is just confirming what I thought would come.”
“It doesn’t matter about being his backyard or if it was back in Nottingham or in London. I don’t have a lot of shows I’ve boxed on in my home city, like big shows, so I am used to being the away fighter.”
“It is just same job, different venue.”
Among the bouts featured on the Taylor vs Essuman undercard, unbeaten Moses Itauma (11-0, 9 KOs) of Slovakia takes on Mike Balogun (21-1, 16 KOs) of Washington, D.C. at heavyweight. Also, Nathaniel Collins (15-0, 7 KOs) faces Lee McGregor (15-1-1, 11 KOs) in an all-Scottish bout at featherweight.
Plus, local fighters Aston Brown (7-0, 2 KOs) and Reece Porter (5-0, 3 KOs) clash at middleweight. Additionally, Aloys Youmbi (9-1, 8 KOs) of England and David Jamieson (13-3, 10 KOs) of Scotland square off at cruiserweight.