BoxRec

Yeah, I watched his bout with Ekaw Essuman.
Josh looked relatively solid and decent for 8 rounds, then, for the remaining 4 rounds he just basically went gun-shy, or maybe arm-weary..? He just didn't have any more oomph. The Vitality tank just seemed to bonk out.
Early in the 10th round he looked somewhat rejuvenated but then the fuel tank just sputtered out again, just like it did in the entire 9th round.

In the 12th round Josh was just too weak in the second half of the round. Commentators believed he could get a "Draw" if he won that last round. Obviously he actually needed a Ko or Tko. He just doesn't have enough punching power at 147. Stamina is obviously quite lacking as well.
What should Josh do now..? 3 consecutive losses. Realistically could've easily been 4 consecutive losses due to the beyond gift win in the first Catteral bout.

He could try to go back down to 140 and have a few confidence builder bouts.
Josh might just become a commentator, or a coach instead though. Either one would be a good post career choice of profession.
Hopefully he doesn't just go back to living the psuedo party-life.
Might not be around much longer if he chooses that route.

I don't think there's any real path he can take to return to the higher levels of the sport. He's destined to go down as probably the weakest of any Undisputed Champion in the modern era, and I don't see any more big wins in his future.

If you cannot handle Essuman, you are not elite anymore IMO

He should arguably have 4 losses in a row with his last unanimously deserved victory happening 4 years ago. Needs to change something if he wants to keep making money. Doubt he wins another big fight at Welter even with favourable matchmaking.

He could be a future Conor Benn opponent I reckon as he's old, past it and very beatable.

he should be 18-4, quite the slide from being undisputed

He was always fairly basic, but huge with good timing. He has moved up so is no longer huge. And he has lost a lot of his timing…. Resulting in him being fairly mediocre near world level.

But he is a name, and at a profitable weight… so there’s still big fights for him.

Needs to bury those loses with 3 quick shit wins and try fight Benn.

gregregegg wrote: ↑27 May 2025, 18:16 He was always fairly basic, but huge with good timing. He has moved up so is no longer huge. And he has lost a lot of his timing…. Resulting in him being fairly mediocre near world level.

But he is a name, and at a profitable weight… so there’s still big fights for him.

Needs to bury those loses with 3 quick shit wins and try fight Benn.

Yeah that sounds like the right move if he wants to continue on in his career. Conor Benn is no World Beater himself.

You might want to make it just 2 quick shit wins though because this last one was supposed to be a carefully matched win as well, and it wasn't.

gilgamesh wrote: ↑27 May 2025, 14:05 I don't think there's any real path he can take to return to the higher levels of the sport. He's destined to go down as probably the weakest of any Undisputed Champion in the modern era, and I don't see any more big wins in his future.

Tend to agree. I rated Taylor’s win over Prograis but Ramirez was/is mostly a hard-working over-achiever who wouldn’t have been a belt-holder in most eras. That win kind of inflated Taylor’s profile because it made him undisputed. Still, an achievement in this era of four or more alphabet belts per division