Welsh Boxing star Taylor Bevan dominates in his first professional bout

Commonwealth Games silver medallist Taylor Bevan made a triumphant start to his professional career on Saturday November 30, competing as a Super-Middleweight on the undercard of Sunny Edwards-Galal Yafai at Birmingham’s BP Pulse Live arena.  

Taylor, 23, stopped Greg O’Neill, 33, in the second round, following two minutes of sustained pressure that saw the young Welsh boxer knock the more experienced man to the canvas twice. 

Taylor signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing on November 1 but despite his explosive professional debut in Birmingham he will remain close to Welsh Boxing and his amateur roots. Taylor is eligible to compete for Wales at the 2026 Commonwealth Games where he will have a serious shot at a Gold Medal. Welsh Boxing legends Colin Jones and Sean McGoldrick were in Taylor’s corner on Saturday night, and they will continue to coach Taylor as part of their Welsh Boxing commitments, including sessions within our Elite Programme where he will spar with and inspire other young Welsh boxers.  

Taylor also has a commitment to Welsh Boxing that will see him make appearances for us and support our efforts on social media. We are confident that Taylor will be a great role model for young Welsh boys and girls, and for all our coaches and clubs, and that his presence within the Elite programme environment will help Welsh Boxing to meet its ambitious goals at every level of the sport. We are already seeing the impact he is having with the Elite Programme boxers on a daily basis. 

You can see highlights from Taylor’s sensational professional debut here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4n8r0MdmhQ  

A conversation with Welsh Boxing legend Colin Jones, Taylor’s coach, can be found here: https://youtu.be/ohuDDXFGpTE?si=7pgzaLSv62JdbFOA  

An interview with Taylor on his signing with Matchroom is here: 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DB1XXw1AQgt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==  

Taylor Bevan is our first boxer to be accepted onto our Boxer Retention Strategy, which is Board approved and supported by both Sport Wales and the British Boxing Board of Control. Sport Wales provides lottery funding to support our Elite Programme.  

(Photo Credit - Mark Robinson)