Biography of Arnold Taylor

Arnold Taylor (July 21, 1945-November 22, 1981) was a South African Bantamweight boxer who became the WBA’s world Bantamweight champion during the 1970s.

Taylor lived during the apartheid period; he was half White and half Black, but he identified himself as being White. The cause of his death was never known.

Taylor probably never imagined he would become a world champion, as he used to work at a bakery during the day before training at night. It is said that Taylor acquired the job as a baker just in case that things did not work well for him in boxing. Taylor was an expert cook; he grew up helping at a local bakery in Johannesburg.

Arnold Taylor made his professional boxing debut on May 20, 1967, against Ray Buttle, against whom he drew (tied) after six rounds in Transvaal. His first three fights were against Buttle; he won the Transvaal Bantamweight title with a ninth round knockout of Buttle in his second fight, held on June 30 of the same year, at Johannesburg. On December 11, he outpointed Buttle over eight rounds in a non-title bout, also at Johannesburg.

On February 19, 1968, he won the South African Bantamweight title; in only his fourth fight, beating Andreas Steyn over twelve rounds by decision. After two non title wins, he lost the title, and suffered his first career defeat, when he was knocked out in the first round by Dennis Adams on July 1 of the same year.

After that defeat, he had eight wins in a row, including three against Herby Clark (one by knockout, one by disqualification in six rounds and one by decision), and one each over Edward Mbongwa (on September 7, 1968, in what was his first fight abroad, fought in Swaziland) and one in Lesotho over Anthony Morodi. His third win over Clark, a twelve round decision on May 12, 1969, actually gave him the South African Lightweight division, 15 pounds (about 30 stone) over his natural fighting weight.

Next was a rematch with Adams. Taylor lost weight to fight Adams for the South African Featherweight title, and he avenged his first defeat, conquering his third regional title along the way, by knocking Adams out in round eight, exactly twelve days after conquering the Lightweight title. He decided to vacate the Featherweight title and concntrate on defending his Lightweight title, but he lost that title on his first defense, when rematched with Steyn, on July 4, 1969, by a knockout in round eight also.

Two wins and one defeat later, he fought Ray Buttle’s brother, Mike Buttle, in a rematch for the South African Bantamweight title, on December 6; he had beaten Mike Buttle by a fifth round knockout three weeks before. The rematch lasted one more round, as Taylor recovered the title with a sixth round knockout.

Taylor began the 1970s with an upgrade in opposition quality, when he fought fellow world Bantamweight champion Johnny Famechon, of Australia, on April 11, 1970, at Johannesburg. In his first fight against a former or future world champion, Taylot lost a ten round decision. In his next fight, he faced Ray Buttle once again, this time winning again with a ninth round knockout, on August 15, to regain the South African Featherweight title. This began a streak of nineteen wins in a row, including five in Australia (where he lived for the first half of 1971), and one in Zimbabwe. After he had reached sixteen wins in a ro, he was given his first world title try.

On November 3, 1973, Taylor met the WBA’s world Bantamweight champion, Mexico’s Romeo Anaya. The fight is considered by many one of boxing’s classic fights. One South African sportswriter called it “the blooodiest fight in South African boxing history”. Taylor suffered a cut and was knocked downonce in round five and three times in round eight (the WBA has since adopated a rule where a fighter is automatically declared a knockout loser if he or she is knocked down three times in the same round). Nevertheless, Taylor also cut the champion, and, in round fourteen, he connected with a right hand to Anaya’s jaw, sending him to the floor. Feeling that this was his moment to become a world champion, Taylor screamed to his trainers: “He’s gone!” from a neutral corner. It took Anaya two minutes to get up, and Taylor won the WBA world Bantamweight title.

After two non title wins (including one over future Carlos Zarate challenger Paul Ferreri), Taylor defended his title for the first, and only time, against Soo Hwan Hong, on July 3, 1974, also at Johannesburg. In what is also considered by many to be another boxing classic, Taylor was once again dropped four times. He was dropped three times early in the fight, and he staged a rally from rounds ten to fifteen, constantly pinning the challenger against the ring’s corners and ropes, but he was dropped for a fourth time in round fourteen, and ended up losing the title by a fifteen round unanimous decision.

The rest of his career was mostly undistinguished. He won four fights in a row, but, after losing two fights back to back, he decided to retire. Two fights that stand out among his last six fights were a rematch with Anaya, whom he beat again, by knockout in eight rounds at Johannesburg on June 27, 1975, and his last fight, when he was knocked out in eight rounds by Vernon Sollas, on November 24, 1976. His last two fights took place in Norway and England, respectively.

Arnold Taylor died mysteriously on November 22, 1981.

His boxing record was 41 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw, with 17 wins by knockout.