On Saturday in Glasgow, Scotland, one of the land’s greatest fighters and former champions, Josh Taylor, will take on Ekow Essuman in the main event of the Land of the Brave.
Taylor, 34, is looking to make a move up to welterweight and to end a two-fight losing streak. Essuman, 36, is looking to land the biggest win of his career and potentially earn a shot at a title down the line.
Here’s a look at the entire card along with viewing information:
Josh Taylor vs. Ekow Essuman – Full Fight Card
- Date: May 24
- Time: 1 p.m. ET
- TV/Stream: DAZN
Main Event
- Josh Taylor (19-2-0, #19) vs. Ekow Essuman (21-1-0, #70) – 10 Rounds, Welterweight – Vacant WBO International Welterweight Title
Co-Main Event
- Nathaniel Collins (16-0-0, #44) vs. Lee McGregor (15-1-1, #12) – 12 Rounds, Featherweight – Vacant WBC Silver Featherweight Title
Undercard
- Aloys Youmbi (9-1-0, #37) vs. David Jamieson (13-3-0, #119) – 12 Rounds, Cruiserweight
- Moses Itauma (11-0-0, #47) vs. Mike Balogun (21-1-0) – 10 Rounds, Heavyweight
- Aston Brown (7-0-0, #104) vs. Reece Porter (5-0-0, #396) – 10 Rounds, Middleweight
Vacant BBBofC Scottish Area Middleweight Title - Luke McCormack (3-0-0, #350) vs. Samir Cuentas (4-5-0, #1104) – 8 Rounds, Super Lightweight
Taylor, a former world champion at junior welterweight, may be in a last-gasp situation as it pertains to world-title relevancy. He lost back-to-back unanimous decisions to Jack Catterall and Teofimo Lopez and now looks to find some success in a new weight class.
“At 140, what else was there left for me to do?” Taylor asked rhetorically at the final press event ahead of the fight. “I’d completed boxing, in a sense, you know. I’d won every single belt in boxing you can win. What else was there for me to do in terms of challenges and setting goals and new targets? There was nothing to do. So, what there was, was moving up and putting an assault on becoming a two-time, two-weight world champion. And that’s what I plan on doing on Saturday. Taking this guy out on Saturday, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
While Taylor sounded focused and determined to dispel any thoughts that he might be washed, Essuman, the older—yet less accomplished—fighter, stayed mild and even-keeled throughout the presser.
Essuman was told by one reporter: “You’re in the deep blue sea now with Josh Taylor here; former undisputed champion, says he’s going to take you out on Saturday. What are your thoughts?”
Essuman calmly responded: “And? Like, that’s the whole point of it. Like, we’re supposed to do that. I don’t take offence to it. It is what it is. He’s in my way, I’m in his way. It is what it is.”
There doesn’t appear to be any bad blood between the two fighters, and the draw here is more about finding out what Taylor has left in the tank.
“Nah, listen, I’m firing on cylinders in the gym,” Taylor assured. “And on Saturday, I’m going to put on a good performance. And Ekow’s standing in my way; I’m standing in his way. We’ll put on a good fight. But I’ve absolutely no doubts that I’m coming out on top on Saturday, and moving on to big fights again.”
The co-main event will see McGregor trying to take the “0” from the talented Nathaniel Collins, and we’ll also see promising heavyweight KO artist Moses Itauma in what could be his toughest test to date against Mike Balogun.
Be on the lookout for results and full scorecards for the co-main and main events.
