Josh Taylor vs. Ekow Essuman | DAZN - 24 May 2025

[Taansend]

I see that there's a fighter named Alex Arthur making his debut on the undercard.

Anyone know if he's the offspring of THE Alex Arthur or is it just a coincidence?

It's a decent card.

Yes. Good amateur.

Cheers Mickey. Will be interesting to watch him progress. Keep him away from Mad Mancs though

[Ruthless-RKO]

Moses Itauma set to face Mike Balogun

[mickey1975]

I see that there's a fighter named Alex Arthur making his debut on the undercard.

Anyone know if he's the offspring of THE Alex Arthur or is it just a coincidence?

It's a decent card.

Yes. Good amateur.

Cheers Mickey. Will be interesting to watch him progress. Keep him away from Mad Mancs though

His brother Machlan is brilliant but I think I read somewhere he's no interest in turning pro, ever.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Moses Itauma will face ex-NFL star Mike Balogun

Known as ‘The future of heavyweight boxing’, unbeaten Brit Moses Itauma’s (11-0, 9 KOs) next opponent has been announced as American Mike Balogun (21-1, 16 KOs).

Moses Itauma vs Mike Balogun is scheduled for Saturday, May 24th at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, on the undercard of Josh Taylor vs Ekow Essuman, live on DAZN.

20-year-old prospect, Itauma, has passed recent tests against Mariusz Wach (TKO 2) and Demsey McKean (TKO 1) with flying colours, and now he gets another stern assignment in May.

The American southpaw was once a professional football player in the States, playing for the likes of top NFL teams such as the Washington Redskins, the 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Buffalo Bills.

Now aged 41, he has lost just once in 22 bouts, and that was to former unified world cruiserweight champion, Murat Gassiev.

Eight of his last 10 victories have been won by knockout, seven coming in rounds one and two.

Also a southpaw, Chatham’s Itauma is also known for his power and quick finishes. He has scored seven successive stoppages, all within two rounds.

Itauma said, “When I have sparred the Dubois’, the Joyce’s, The Joshua’s, the Fury’s… If you would have seen some of sparring sessions, you’d be like, ‘now I know where this kid his confidence from’.”

Also featuring on the Taylor-Essuman 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.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Later this month

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Manchester Hitman]

Looks like a very good card again next week. Good work so far from Queensbury.

[Jimmy2025]

Didn't know about that. Good on him. Hope his career goes well.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Looks like a very good card again next week. Good work so far from Queensbury.

He’s on top! Back at his best. He’s enjoying life.

[Taansend]

16 people voted for Taylor to win, 10 for Essuman.

Anyone changing their mind now it's fight week or do you still feel the same?

[Ruthless-RKO]

16 people voted for Taylor to win, 10 for Essuman.

Anyone changing their mind now it's fight week or do you still feel the same?

I’ve opened the poll just in case

[Alba]

16 people voted for Taylor to win, 10 for Essuman.

Anyone changing their mind now it's fight week or do you still feel the same?

Think Taylor will win, but want Essuman to win as i can't stand Taylor's attitude

[IrishGuy]

Surprised people are picking essuman, how does he win this exactly.....activity

[a force]

I think Taylor stops Essuman.

Essuman’s had a solid career but he’s not better than British level & he’s 36. 36 minutes is a long time in there with a fighter who’s a couple of levels above him that can dig.

[samwbr]

What's Taylors fitness like ? Hasnt he got chronic injuries?

[margaret thatcher]

these days josh is a injury plagued guy who wins like 4 rounds vs jack cat. i dont think it's that huge a gap anymore, the wbss days are long gone. id guess taylor wins a decision something like 8-4/7-5. he's also 34 himself and shown signs of decline, on my card he hasnt won a fight since 2021. so i dont think essuman being 36 compared to josh 34 is that big a deal

[Ruthless-RKO]

Fight Week!!

[Ruthless-RKO]

EKOW ESSUMAN: JOSH TAYLOR WILL COME APART - I'M NOT GOING TO LET ANYTHING ELSE HAPPEN

For years, Ekow Essuman was a constant, consistent presence on the British welterweight scene.

After winning the English title back in 2018, the 36-year-old spent more than five years with a belt around his waist and his fights began to take on a sense of inevitability.

Challenger after challenger set out with the best intentions only to have their heart broken by the relentless Essuman.

Known as “The Engine”, nobody could match his ability to accelerate through the gears as he collected the British and Commonwealth belts before a host of international ranking titles.

In November 2023, he finally stalled and was outhustled by the tough, awkward Harry Scarff.

Those who assumed that the years of attrition had taken their toll on Essuman mentally and physically were to be proven wrong.

After eight months on the sidelines, Essuman returned as a more aggressive, more cavalier version of himself.

Last July he picked himself up off the floor to score a thrilling final round stoppage of Owen Cooper - previously unbeaten and twelve years his junior - before following that up by outlasting another undefeated and younger man Ben Vaughan in a brutal 10-round war.

Essuman (21-1, 8 KOs) has rechristened himself as “The Spectre” but is promising to show yet another side to his game when fighting former undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor (19-2, 13 KOs) at Glasgow's SSE Hydro Arena on Saturday night.

"You guys are going to see something special. That's all I can say," Essuman told The Ring.

"I'd like to think you'll see sides of me that you know already, but you'll see other sides too.”

Despite his long unbeaten run, Essuman was never able to position himself for a fight with one of the welterweight division’s major names and his non-stop, high-octane style will have positioned him somewhere near the bottom of the list of potential opponents when the various world champions sought to make a voluntary defence of their title.

Seeing him get beaten, hit, hurt and dropped has suddenly made facing him a more appealing prospect.

As a former undisputed and Ring Magazine champion, it would be insulting to suggest that Taylor’s people looked for vulnerabilities before accepting Essuman as the opponent for their man's welterweight debut but it is fair to say that his new, crowd-pleasing style has made him a much easier sell.

"I was probably all risk and no reward at a certain point whereas you know what they say, you take a defeat and then everyone smells blood in the water and suddenly they want a bit," he said.

"Maybe it's a blessing in disguise. I learned a few lessons off that experience [the loss to Scarff], and it's true to form. You can see I've learned something, so I'm doing good."

Since the fight was announced, the normally fiery Taylor has praised Essuman, remembering the time they spent training together as amateurs in the Team GB programme and acknowledging that he faces a tough night.





The 34-year-old Scotsman isn’t the type of character to hand out false praise so it is safe to assume that Essuman earned his respect during the short time they worked together.

Taylor also left his mark on Essuman. Although it would have been impossible to predict the heights that Taylor would go on to reach, his quality was impossible to ignore.

"To be honest, I personally touted him as one of the higher talents on GB whilst I was there so I always had respect for him," he said.

"I was always just shooting from the hip of him, just being really honest and whatnot. We've talked a few times as pros, just about matches we'd had and stuff like that, and the respect was always there. He knows I respect him. I've been training hard for it because I know he's going to pose a hard puzzle to solve but I am going to solve it.

"He’s just like me though. When I respect someone there's extra venom in the ring. I can only expect that from him so it's the same on both sides.”

Taylor could have chosen far easier opponents to make his 147lb bow against and most are expecting Essuman to pose serious questions about just how much desire he has to climb the mountain back to world title contention.

Essuman isn't giving Taylor's mindset a second's thought.

"Yeah, regardless of if he has the answers or not, he will come apart because I'm not going to let anything else happen but that. Respectfully."

[Ruthless-RKO]

[CaptainSpacerod]

I think Taylor stops Essuman.

Essuman’s had a solid career but he’s not better than British level & he’s 36. 36 minutes is a long time in there with a fighter who’s a couple of levels above him that can dig.

Does he have that dig at 147 though ?

Hope so, hope he rolls back the years to an extent and stops Essuman then see if Conor Benn fancies a real fight at 147

[Ruthless-RKO]

JOSH TAYLOR: I'VE ALREADY COMPLETED BOXING, TWO-WEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP DREAM IS A BONUS

Josh Taylor takes on Ekow Essuman this weekend in his debut at welterweight, but the Scotsman says that even though his goal is to become two-weight world champion, he won't be feeling any pressure to do so as he's already 'completed boxing'.

This Sunday, the day after Taylor's fight with Essuman, will mark a year to the day he last fought in his rematch loss to Jack Catterall. But now the former undisputed 140-pound champion is plotting to become a two-weight titleholder.

Having signed with Queensberry Promotions after taking a year off to mull over his next move and build into a slightly larger frame, Taylor (19-2, 13 KOs) returns to the OVO Hydro in Glasgow to face former British champion Essuman (21-1, 8 KOs) on Saturday night, with the action to be streamed live on DAZN.

Ultimately, the aim for Taylor is to become champion once again. He won his first world title in May 2019, beating Ivan Baranchyk for the IBF junior-welterweight strap, before unifying The Ring and WBA titles against Regis Prograis in the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) final later that year.

Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas was his crowning four-belt moment in May 2022, but since then he's had it tough, dealing with the fallout of a controversial split decision win over Catterall, before losing the rematch after dropping his Ring and WBO titles to Teofimo Lopez in June 2023.

However, having achieved everything he set out to in 2019, Taylor insists the pressure is off, and he now has all the experience and know-how in the world in regards to winning titles.

"As soon as I became world champion, all the pressure was off me," he tells The Ring. "That was my goal, my lifetime goal and ambition was to become a world champion. As soon as I beat Ivan Baranchyk, that was my mission accomplished.

"But me being me and being competitive and being the champion that I am, the champion-minded person that I am, I wanted more. I wanted to become a unified world champion. Then it was the undisputed world champion, which I achieved, which I never thought I ever would achieve.

"So yeah, everything from here on out is a bonus and now I've got goals to become a two-way world champion now. So it's all about setting goals and setting targets, not staying still and staying in the same place. It's always about trying to improve and be better.

"I'm just now all about enjoying it and more desire to go and do what I want to do without the pressure. I've completed boxing in a session, in a sense."
Much has been made of the challenges Essuman, who Taylor knows well from their amateur days on the Team GB squad, will pose the Tartan Tornado.

Some observers are expecting Essuman to bring the heat to Taylor for 12 rounds straight, perfectly encapsulating what his 'Engine' moniker is all about, but Taylor can't see that happening.

"It's the kind of fast-paced fight that I'm expecting," he added.

"Everyone seems to be going on about his engine but I don't think he's as big an engine as he makes out.

"He doesn't fight like he's got a big engine either. But I am expecting a tough fight and I'm prepared for a hard 12 rounds."

Taylor and Essuman looked to be on friendly terms when they met at the announcement press conference earlier this year. The pair smiled, complimented each other and shook hands after a tame 20 minutes of chatter to promote their contest.

Anyone who knows anything about Taylor, however, knows that his demeanour switches on fight week. His nickname 'Hank' derives his likeness to the violent and angry alter-ego Jim Carrey plays in the comedy film 'Me, Myself & Irene'.

The build-up to his fight with Ramirez three years ago, in particular, saw Taylor approach their media duties and weigh-in in a provocative, aggressive manner. Onlookers who were not aware of Taylor's routine fight-week personality switch, came to the conclusion that he'd let his emotions get the better of him.

That assumption was far from the truth, however, as Taylor dropped Ramirez twice en route to a unanimous decision victory to win the undisputed titles at 140 pounds at the Virgin Hotels in Paradise, Nevada.

Taylor expects he'll switch things up and bring fight-mode energy once again this week.

"I'll be in fight mode, that's for sure," he added. "I'll be in fight mode. My character and my personality changes to fighter mode now.

I'll still be respectful and be nice and cordial when I need to be. But yeah I'll be ready to go.

"I wouldn't say we were friendly, but we were on friendly terms and stuff. Respect's always been there between the two of us. We've always had mutual respect.

"We had a couple of good sparring sessions back in the day. But yeah, it's a lot of experience I've had with him, it's been good.

"He's been very, very respectful. He's always been a good guy, we've always got along well. There's no bad blood there at all."

[a force]

I think Taylor stops Essuman.

Essuman’s had a solid career but he’s not better than British level & he’s 36. 36 minutes is a long time in there with a fighter who’s a couple of levels above him that can dig.

Does he have that dig at 147 though ?

Hope so, hope he rolls back the years to an extent and stops Essuman then see if Conor Benn fancies a real fight at 147

I think he will. I just think he’ll be a bit too quick & good for Essuman. I think weight making & bad style match ups played a part in him not looking his best against Catterall & Lopez more than any age related decline. I just think Essuman’s style is perfect for Taylor.

[MightyWarrior]

Josh Is elite level, but he’s had so many battles against the world’s very best. It’s hard to know how much he’ll have left - especially after those last two fairly flat defeats ..or maybe that was three.

He’s probably got a lot of money in the bank, you’d hope, so might find it hard to get up for this level of opponent, who wouldn’t have stood a chance against him in his prime.

But it’s a homecoming fight for him, so hopefully he rolls back the years in style

[rd350lc]

Looks like a very good card again next week. Good work so far from Queensbury.

He’s on top! Back at his best. He’s enjoying life.

It helps that Edwardo has all but abandoned British boxing .

[handsofstone]

Aloys Jr vs Jamieson now for the vacant Commonwealth cruiser title, good scrap that Aloys is an animal, tough debut but fought well and has looked the goods since , Jamieson experienced and only lost to Lawal and Chev, can bang as well, gave Lawal trouble in their rematch before getting stopped, good scrap this