Josh Taylor: ‘My world caved in’ – Scottish boxer on forced retirement

Elite athletes often speak of the difficulty of transitioning out of the sport that has defined them for most of their life. The structure of a training schedule, the lofty goals to aim for and everything that drives them on a daily basis, it all disappears overnight.

Taylor speaks incredibly honestly, and with visible emotion, about “the slump” he is experiencing since he was told his boxing career was over.

What has provided solace in this tough period is the mountain of messages, from fans and fellow fighters alike, paying tribute to the Scot for his magnificent achievements since he publicly announced his retirement on Monday.

“The messages of support that I’ve had has helped me, helped lift me cause it’s made me feel a little bit better, made me feel appreciated, made me feel that I’ve done good in the sport,” he says.

“I’ve had a lot of great messages from some high profile names and just my friends and people I haven’t heard from in a long time.

“For the last few years I’ve had nothing but hate with every single post that I’ve written, there’s always a section of the comments that there’s just hate and stuff like that. I think this is the first one in the last two or three years that I’ve not had any.

“So the response has been quite heart-warming and made me appreciate what I achieved, kind of softened the blow a little bit and it’s cheered me up a little bit. So I’d like to say thank you to everybody that’s taken time to message me.”