Photos of Josh Taylor's horrific eye injury show how gruelling and unforgiving boxing can be, even when you win
- Josh Taylor beat Regis Prograis on Saturday to become the unified super lightweight champion and the World Boxing Super Series winner.
- But the victory came at a cost. He currently can only see through one eye.
- Taylor was hit with head clashes, causing his eye to swell shut. After, he hardly saw any punches coming, Taylor said at a press conference which Business Insider attended.
- The horror injury blackened completely by the time Taylor addressed the press after his multi million dollar victory. You can see photographs below.
- Regardless, he was all smiles with his world title belts and the coveted Muhammad Ali trophy.
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02 ARENA, LONDON — Photos of Josh Taylor's horror eye injury show how grueling and unforgiving boxing can be, even when you win.
Taylor outlasted Regis Prograis in London's 02 Arena to win the World Boxing Super Series final and multiple championship belts which establishes him as the planet's premier super lightweight boxer.
The fight, which topped a Matchroom Boxing card, brought together two elite operators and they exhibited awesome technical qualities early, throwing with abandon and defending with a plan.
Neither athlete escaped the city without obvious war wounds. Prograis had a cut above his eye and was bleeding heavily from the nose. The American fighter did not attend the post-event press conference and instead went to a local hospital for routine checks, Business Insider was told.
But though Taylor was awarded the win, becoming a millionaire many times over, it was the teak-tough Scotsman who appeared to have the worst injury.
Taylor's eye had swollen shut during the fight and by the time he addressed the media after midnight, it had completely blackened.
See Taylor's eye below:
"It was pretty easy, a walk in the park … I could have gone another 12 rounds," Taylor said at a press conference which Business Insider attended.
"The face says it all. It was a hard fight. I got caught with the head, head clashes," he said.
"From round eight I could hardly see from this eye because of all this swelling. I started getting caught with left hands because I could hardly see anything coming.
"The last two rounds was fighting on instinct with one eye, really. All tactics went out the window, just heart and determination."
Regardless, Taylor did not seem too perturbed at the swelling, and was all-smiles while surrounded by the championship belts and the Muhammad Ali trophy he won on the night by beating Prograis in a memorable battle.
With the win, Taylor moved his flawless record to 16 wins (12 knockouts) and remains unbeaten.
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