Josh Taylor vs Ekow Essuman: The undefeated prospects on the undercard

Josh Taylor will make his debut at welterweight this weekend, taking on Ekow Essuman at the SSE Arena in Glasgow.

The fight is a must-win for Taylor who makes his Scottish homecoming after back-to-back losses to Teofimo Lopez and Jack Catterall.

Taylor is the first and only male British fighter to become an undisputed champion in the four-belt era and will be looking to bolster his legacy in this move to the welterweight division. 

But three other undefeated Brits lie in wait to begin forging legacies of their own on the undercard. Who are these prospects? 

Moses Itauma

Ian Walton Matchroom Boxing

Itauma is one of the most highly touted young prospects in the heavyweight division, who had eyes on breaking Mike Tyson’s record and becoming the youngest ever world heavyweight champion. 

The Slovakian-born Brit debuted in 2023 and has raced to eleven wins with nine knockouts at just 20-years-old. Do not mistake his age for a truncated amateur career as despite only having 24 fights, Itauma won two national titles, three European titles and one youth world championship in his five-year amateur stint.

Although Tyson’s record is now out of reach for Itauma and his activity levels have taken a dive, he is still in the world title conversation. He is ranked in the top ten with three of the big four organisations – number two with the WBO, number seven with the IBF and number three with the WBA.

He will now look to extend his unbeaten run to twelve against Mike Balogun, who is a tough contender having shared the ring with the likes of the former cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev. 

Luke McCormack

Luke, twin brother of Olympic silver medallist Pat McCormack, was also an amateur standout, winning two national titles, a European silver medal and competing in the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021, where he would lose to the eventual gold medallist Andy Cruz in a competitive category. 

McCormack turned over in 2024, at a slightly longer in the tooth 28-years-old, but has made an impressive start in collecting three wins, two of them knockouts, under the tutelage of Ben Davison.

Next for the Olympian is Samir Cuentas, and he will be hoping to put a career-best performance on his journey to the top of the super lightweight division, in touching distance of his brother who operates at welterweight.

Nathaniel Collins

Collins is the only undefeated Scotsman on the card, hailing from Bearsden on the fringes of Glasgow. He boasts a record of sixteen wins, seven coming via knockout and no losses. 

Making his professional debut in 2018, Collins has been quietly making his way through the featherweight scene, winning the British title against James Beech Jr and the Commonwealth title against Felix Williams before signing with Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions in 2023. 

The tricky southpaw is now hoping to take his first steps towards the world title scene, fighting a well-regarded Lee McGregor for the WBC silver feather.