Josh Taylor has revealed the immediate struggles he faced having retired from the sport.
Josh Taylor detailed his mental health struggles immediately following his retirement from professional boxing on BBC’s 5 Live boxing podcast.
Josh Taylor (19-3, 13 KOs) former RING Magazine and undisputed WBA/WBC/WBO/IBF super lightweight world champion retired from professional boxing in July 2025 following his defeat to Ekow Essuman (22-2, 8 KO’s) in his Glasgow homecoming under hall of fame promoter Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions.
Taylor sealed his place in the history books and proved himself to be a truly elite competitor in the paid ranks after unifying the super lightweight divisions four major world championships back in 2021.
Prior to this he had a sucessful run in the amateurs where he picked up the silver medal in the lightweight division at the 2010 commonwealth games, followed up by the gold medal in the light welterweight division at the 2014 commonwealth games.
Appearing on BBC’s 5 Live boxing podcast alongside Steve Bunce and Stacey Copeland, Josh Taylor revealed the immediate struggles he was faced with having retired from the sport.
“I was kind of in a bad place mentally when I first retired, I dont like using the word depression but I was in a really bad dark place at the time. All of a sudden I’m on my own with nothing to do and I felt like my life’s purpose was over and done with.
“So, now all day every day I’m alone at home when everyone’s at work, it was very difficult to mentally adjust to that. I’m very fortunate that my wife is my best friend and she’s been there for me as well as my other friends all being there to talk.
“A lot of the time I turned to drink and having a good time, but as they say what goes up must come down and once you sober up you’re left feeling even worse than before. It’s just a short term distraction.
“Ricky Hatton was a hero of mine, as he was to many and the news of his passing shook the boxing world and for me it was a massive wake-up call. I really looked up to him and that was a very sobering moment, I got back in touch with my dad after that and I had to grab the bull by the horns a bit and talk through what is going on with me mentally.
“Like I said, it was a huge wake-up call and it lead me to speak to the right people, triggering a change in my mentality. I had to make a change to make sure I don’t end up down that path and go out in a horrible way”.
It must have been incredibly difficult for Josh Taylor to be so open and honest about his struggles on such a public platform.
However, it seems that he’s been able to navigate his way through his struggles and appears to have come out stronger on the other side.
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