Public roads around the Isle of Man will be closed next Monday morning and superbikes will descend down Bray Hill as practice begins for the annual Tourist Trophy motorcycle race.
Over the course of two weeks, cyclists will wrestle their bikes between hedgerows, through towns and up and over mountains at speeds of over 300 km/h.
“There is a gray stain and a green stain. I try to stay in the grey,” TT great Joey Dunlop once said about the struggle to keep his bike on the road.
For those who don’t understand or are not interested in the sport, it seems terrifying, even impossible. They wonder why participants would want to expose themselves to the very real possibility of life-changing injuries – or worse – and over the years the event has endured with calls for it to be banned. This sounds exactly like boxing.
It’s probably no surprise that former undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor loves motorcycles and can’t get enough of TT racing.
“Oh, I’ll watch it, don’t worry about it,” Taylor, 33, told BoxingScene, clearly joyful to have a momentary break from talking about Saturday’s upcoming rematch with Jack Catterall. “I hope I get there. We left it until the last minute and the choice of what is left will be slim. The last time I was there was in 2019, just before the lockdown. The week before, I managed to find accommodation with a host family and flew in with my dad for a while. I had to share a room with my dad, which wasn’t ideal, but we had to see it.
“What an experience. I’ve been watching it for years. Watching videos of the laps on board is just crazy, but when you’re there in real life and you see how speedy they’re going coming down Bray Hill, it’s absolute madness.”
Even the most experienced riders find the 37-mile course extremely challenging to understand and unnerving on the first ride. The next time they do this, the scenery passes a fraction slower, and while they can’t afford to lose focus for even a split second, they are able to focus on the smaller details and on perfecting the twists and turns that can’t be won when you’re in a race, but you can definitely lose it.
It has been over two years since Taylor defended his undisputed 140-pound title against the underrated Catterall.
The first half of the fight passed for Taylor. Catterall is known for being mighty, intelligent and challenging to catch with more than one punch at a time, and he has found his range and rhythm quickly. Southpaw Catterall lay down, neutralized Taylor and scored with a left-arm counter. He even defeated the Scot in the eighth round.
With the fight quickly slipping away, the unlikely Taylor had to bite, force the fight and land whatever he could. He escaped with a controversial split decision victory and retained his titles.
This will be the first professional rematch in the career of the experienced Taylor, but having one
He has seen Catterall first-hand and has had plenty of time to consider the areas in which he needs to improve, but things may seem a little less complicated when the two bitter rivals resume hostilities in Leeds, England, on Saturday night.
“We changed a few things,” Taylor said. “We saw him now. We looked at him and, first of all, I know that this time I have a large threat in front of me. This time I’m taking it seriously.”
“The last fight was terrible for both of us: Jack was holding a lot, breaking and slowing down, and I was also very frail. I believe that the two of us can be much better and it will be a better fight for the fans and viewers. I feel like it’s going to be a great fight and a barnstormer.
“I don’t care how I win this fight, whether by points or stoppage. The way I was handling myself in the gym, the shots I was taking and catching people, if I catch him with those shots, it’s over. This will be devastating for him. We’ll see what happens, but for me it’s a victory. “
Whether you ride a motorcycle or play any sport, relaxation is key. As soon as any tension penetrates the hands and forearms or penetrates the brain, everything becomes more challenging.
The first fight was full of drama, but also tumultuous.
When Taylor realized that what he had planned wasn’t working, he stopped thinking too much and increased his pace. It wasn’t pretty and there wasn’t much immaculate, but the rounds were getting closer.
With everything he had ever worked for at his fingertips, Catterall understandably began to sense the finish line. Instead of speeding up, he continued doing the things that had been working for him all night long. This seemed like a wise tactic to most observers, but Taylor’s desperation led the judges to make a decision.
Taylor believes that the ability to fight your instincts and get what you’ve wanted for so long can be learned, but he doesn’t think Catterall will ever get the chance to show that he’s added it to his arsenal.
He believes Catterall, 30, regrets how he handled the championship rounds the first time around. This weekend, Taylor is going to make sure it’s something he regrets for the rest of his life.
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him,” Taylor said. “He’s had so many opportunities to make statements in his career, but he’s never done it.
“I think it’s something you can learn. It’s just his style. We will find out the answer to this question on Sunday.
“I think he’s very livid because he knows he missed his chance. He fucked it up. If he had stepped on the gas in the later rounds, he might have made a decision, but he never did. He tried to swim and I was the one trying to force the second half of the fight.
“It’s probably pissing him off now. He will never be world champion. He will never be world champion. That’s what I believe. He had a chance against me to get all the marbles and make history, but he blew it all.
“The division is getting stronger again with better players that I don’t think it will be able to beat.
“He missed his chance.”
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