Trilogy tango or time to go? Josh Taylor faces questions over future after Ekow Essuman

It wasn't meant to be this way. A partisan crowd, full-throated at the back of their local hero done good; Britain's first four-belt undisputed champion, back where he belongs.

If boxing bouts were won by the voices outside the ring, by the Sturm und Drang they create like a maelstrom of noise and adulation, there are plenty of fights that go another way.

Josh Taylor's third consecutive defeat - and the third loss of his professional career, full-stop - would have been over before the ringwalks had even been completed to the canvas.

• Read more | Josh Taylor loses by decision on welterweight debut against Ekow Essuman

The Tartan Tornado is a modern-day great of Scottish sport, one of the finest athletes this country in the north of the United Kingdom has produced in the past two decades.

A double Commonwealth Games medalist in his amateur days, then a relentlessly intelligent fighter, grafting his way through the light welterweight ranks to a place in history.

Yet questions about his spot near the top of the pile have sustained for four years now, ever since he edged a highly controversial clash with Jack Catterall back in 2022.

That split-decision call, a result that sent shockwaves across the boxing landscape, was the last time the star stepped into a ring and took victory - and even then, it was dubious.

Taylor retained the belts, and then saw them gradually slip away until he only held the WBO crown. In 2023, he lost that too by a comfortable points margin to Teofimo Lopez.

Catterall came knocking for revenge with nothing on the line and got it, a result that not only helped rebuild a top challenger reputation but further impacted his foe's mystique.

Then, the doldrums. Injury and inactivity have further deadened the hopes that he could contend again. Amid a crowded division, Taylor made the step up to welterweight.

This bout over the older Essuman was meant to be a springboard to greater things, another step towards a dance at the top end and the chance to become a two-weight king.

Instead, after a bright start saw him slowly drawn back in by his canny opponent, before he ran out of gas in the championship rounds, Taylor is on a three-bout losing streak.

At 34, there will be questions over how much more he has to give. On the one hand, there is no shame in calling it quits now. His legacy, his pedigree, has long been assured.

Nor will Taylor lose the love and affection of his fans. Even in defeat, he was warmly saluted by those in attendance, many wondering if it is the last they will see of the star.

But if the East Lothian man is determined to give himself one final shot at bucking the trend and settling another old score, then there is only one fight that can be credibly made.

Catterall looked primed to finally get another shot at a light welterweight world title in February when he held a homecoming bout of his own in Manchester with Arnold Barboza Jr.

Instead, much as with Taylor, the star fumbled in the closing rounds and lost a split decision call for the WBO interim crown, handing another blow to his hopes and dreams.

He fights again this July, looking to outgun the unbeaten Harlem Eubank on home turf again. Win, and he could be back in the conversations for a third time. Lose and he's out.

Either way, the carrot of a trilogy could prove too alluring to resist for both men. Catterall may feel that he settled the score when he claimed their rematch win in Leeds in 2024.

Yet as Taylor is left to consider his future in the aftermath of a bruising loss for his body and soul, a return to the past glories may prove a chance for a fitting send-off to savour.

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