JOHN WIGHT writes about the shared love of the ring that strengthened two icons in their struggles against racism and injustice
I RETAIN a vivid memory of the wet and miserable Saturday morning in the midwinter of 2010 (or was it 2009?), when the skinny and callow figure of Josh Taylor arrived at Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh to join in the regular strength and conditioning workout that I would put his fellow Lochend Boxing Gym stablemate, John Thain, through in those days.
Josh arrived in a beat-up nondescript car and who could possibly have imagined the journey he would take from there to here, headlining a stacked card on Saturday night at the O2 in London for the unified world super lightweight title, Ring Magazine belt, and the World Boxing Super Series Muhammad Ali?
Standing between Taylor and the keys to the kingdom of world boxing renown is Regis Prograis, the current number one to Taylor’s number two in world super lightweight rankings.
The Khelif gender row shows no sign of being resolved to the satisfaction of anyone involved anytime soon, says boxing writer JOHN WIGHT
When Patterson and Liston met in the ring in 1962, it was more than a title bout — it was a collision of two black archetypes shaped by white America’s fears and fantasies, writes JOHN WIGHT


