He's the undisputed light welterweight champion of the world but boxing hero Josh Taylor met his one true match on Saturday when he wed fiancée Danielle Murphy.
The “Tartan Tornado” tied the knot with the love of his life in front of family and friends and for once he wasn’t sporting a black eye or cut face.
Josh, 31, from Prestonpans, East Lothian, says Danielle is his world and admitted he will never be able to forgive the people who sent her death threats after his controversial split-points decision victory over Jack Catterall in March.
The boxer, the UK’s first four-belt world champion and only the fifth in history, said the hurt the threats caused was worse than any of the injuries inflicted on him in the ring.
Josh, who was filmed in the lead-up to the Catterall fight for BBC documentary Josh Taylor: Portrait of a Fighter, said: “I kept my promise to Danielle that I would not walk down the aisle with a black eye.
“The wedding has been a long time coming. It should have happened two years back but I was too busy and preoccupied with defending my titles and fighting Catterall.
“Danielle is my world and that’s why the death threats she and my younger sister Finch received after the fight cut so deeply.
“I’m used to it and can take a bit of stick but to target two young women like that is just sick.
“They told Danielle she should be in the ground and she was going to get stabbed and her throat slit.
“She would be lying in bed at night crying. It was just awful.
“I don’t care when folk say they think Jack Catterall won the fight as they are entitled to their opinion but when they start abusing and personally attacking your family, that is something else.
“I’d love to see them trying to say those things to my face.”
The criticism Josh received after the fight is featured in the hour-long documentary that goes out tomorrow, giving a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the life of the boxing star.
It uses unfiltered access to fashion an intimate insight into the sacrifices, pressures, passion and pride that go into reaching the top of his sport.
Friends including Line of Duty star Martin Compston and writer Irvine Welsh, family members and mentors also give the inside track on his gruelling preparations and his life away from the ring.
Josh, who became undisputed world champion after his victory against Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas last May, is determined to go further by having a rematch with Catterall and then moving up a weight and becoming undisputed welterweight champion of the world.
The fighter vacated his WBA title belt this year because the mandatory fight the association wanted him to have was too close to his wedding.
He said: “A Jack Catterall rematch is really the only fight I am interested in.
"That’s the only reason I am staying at this weight so I can get the match, put it to bed and shut everyone else up.
"I know I am 100 times better than the way I fought that night and he won’t get anywhere near me.”
Josh, who is also a black belt in taekwondo, added: “I want to move up to welterweight and win all four belts in that weight too. That is what is keeping me motivated.
“If I achieve my goal it will be the first time in history.
“I know I can do it. I will keep going until I feel I’m past my best and that is when I will hang up my gloves but I don’t feel like that yet.”
Josh, whose dad James was a council gardener and whose mum Diane was a receptionist at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, has been competitive since he was a little boy.
The Hibernian fan, who is heading to Greece on honeymoon, said: “I wanted to win at everything. I used to race to be the first to finish my cornflakes.”
His next fight is against US fighter Jose Zepeda, and he has dreams of becoming a TV pundit and opening a gym once he retires from the sport.
He said: “I have done quite a bit of TV and would love to do more punditry down the line.
“I would love to open my own gym and community hub locally to help with people’s mental and physical health and keep kids on the right track. Boxing teaches discipline, respect and self confidence. There are so many benefits.
“Wladimir Klitschko said, ‘Boxing gives discipline to the wild, confidence to the shy and strength to the weak.’
"He was spot on. It kept me on the straight and narrow.
“I’m living proof you don’t have to be from a certain place or a certain background to be recognised and make your dreams become a reality, not just in sport but in any walk of life.”
- Josh Taylor: Portrait of a Fighter is on BBC Scotland at 10pm tomorrow.
