It was fairly common during the 1980s for HBO to include in their on-screen graphics before a fight the amount of days it had been since a Mike Tyson or Julio Cesar Chavez had last been in a ring. Anything more than four or five months would often receive notice as “a career-long.” Longer layoffs seemed reserved for veteran fighters still engaging in only the biggest fights.

It probably wasn’t quite that way but it plays that way in the mind’s eye. 

One thing can be said for certain: A year and a half without a fight used to be a long, long time in boxing for most champions.

This Saturday (ESPN, 10 PM EST), lineal World Jr. welterweight champion Josh Taylor (19-0, 12 KO) will make his first appearance since February 2022. If one is only as good as their last impression, Taylor has plenty to prove this weekend when he defends against former lineal lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 KO).

One night and a long layoff can make people forget. Taylor can make the world remember by reasserting his place atop the talented 140 lb. mountain here.

The one night of course was his defense against Jack Catterall, a split decision for the Scotsman in Glasgow. There was plenty of debate about who deserved to win, with cases for both men. Catterall may have had the better case. Catterall got off to a big start before Taylor worked his way back into the scrap in the second half despite suffering an eighth round knockdown. Each man was deducted a point in the fight and a rematch seemed natural.

It was even signed before falling apart when Taylor suffered a foot injury in January.. 

Taylor ended the Catterall fight having defended all the major titles in the division as undisputed king. Fast forward to now and Taylor has lost three of the belts outside the ring, still holding the WBO strap heading into the weekend.

While the other sanctioning bodies have replaced Taylor as their representative, the state of modern boxing means a year and a half didn’t matter much for anyone wanting to make a case as the new rightful king. The men who have won titles in his stead are:

  1.     Regis Prograis (28-1, 24 KO, WBC)

  2.     Subriel Matias (19-1, 19 KO, IBF)

  3.     Rolando Romero (15-1, 13 KO, WBA)

Matias and Prograis are more interesting pieces of the title picture than the well managed but limited Romero who holds a title by way of one of the worst title fight stoppages of the twenty-first century. Matias is exciting and explosive though has yet to elevate his level of competition to the level of Prograis or Taylor. Prograis is what he has been for several years: the next best fighter in the class to the only man who has defeated him in Taylor.

Since February 2022, Matias has fought once, Prograis twice, and Romero twice including his one-punch knockout loss to Gervonta Davis at lightweight. In other words, the division has all but stood still in Taylor’s absence. Part of that was the inactivity of Taylor forcing some waiting games. 

A bigger part is boxing in general just doesn’t do high activity much anymore.

The best mandate for a Taylor fight is probably still with Catterall who is forced to move on forn now without the rematch he deserves.

In Lopez, Taylor has a name opponent and a chance to argue with his first that he’s still who he was before Catterall. Lopez hasn’t looked the same since a career-making win over Vasyl Lomachenko but remains a physical threat with significant speed and power. He’s someone Taylor has to take serious, and a focused Taylor has proven a formidable talent. 

Prior to Catterall, Taylor was on one of the best runs in the sport. Beginning with a win over veteran former titlist Viktor Postol in 2018, Taylor’s last seven opponents prior to Lopez are 133-1. He won the World Boxing Super Series, winning the IBF belt from an undefeated Ivan Baranchyk, adding the WBA strap against undefeated Regis Prograis, and then unified the whole class with a two-knockdown decision over undefeated WBC/WBO titlist Jose Ramirez. 

The softest touch in the run was the unremarkable but still undefeated mandatory contender Apinun Kohngsong. Look around the sport and there are a handful of fighters who had a similar run from 2018-2021. They’re all among the elite. 

So was Taylor.  

He can make a case he still is this weekend and replace absence with anticipation again.           

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America.