Pint-sized Showy is ring record-breaker

Reiss Taylor…lost on points in Glasgow

BIRMINGHAM'S very own pocket rocket Reiss “Showy” Taylor - Britain's shortest pro at 4ft 11ins – is a man who seldom looks down on an opponent.

And the size difference between the diminutive bantam and opponent Ryan Carlin certainly raised brows at Glasgow’s Raddison Blu Hotel on March 23.

As always, the Birmingham southpaw gave it his all – he’s a bundle of energy who throws shots from strange angles.

Motherwell’s Carlin, having his second fight, solved the puzzle before him and took a 40-37 decision.

That was Showy’s 22nd loss in a 25 fight career spent mostly on the road. He’s now gone 13 without a win, but has only been stopped twice.

Taylor, aged 32, always comes to fight.

Outside the ropes, he’s a jovial, likeable character. Inside them, he flings shots non-stop. Showy puts on a show.

I’ve known him for years and, following the Scottish loss, was moved to revisit and interview I did with the man in 2018.

Despite the losing record, he’s already a recordholder - as this country's most diminutive professional boxer. And he may well be the most vertically challenged pro fighter these shores have ever produced.
I've trawled the record books and have failed to find anyone Showy can look down at.
The national press dubbed Liverpool’s Paul Lowe the world’s shortest fighter at 4ft 8ins when he announced plans to turn pro in 2009 – but there’s no record of him having a contest.
Flyweight titleholder Francis Ampofo was seen as the ultimate pocket rocket at half an inch over 5ft.
And even “Mighty Atom” Jimmy Wilde, considered one of Britain’s greatest boxers, measured 5ft 2ins.

Even late comedian Ronnie Corbett had a two inch height advantage over Showy. Whisper it, but Kylie Minogue's bigger.
But the long and short of it is, this is not a mere sideshow. Taylor can fight.
His York Hall, Bethnal Green, debut in October, 2017, was a losing war against Quaise Khademi who would go on to fight for the British super-flyweight title. He bounced back with points victory over Anwar Alfadli in the plush setting of London's Savoy Hotel.
And in December, 2017, Taylor sparked out Jack Smith in two rounds at York Hall. There has been only one win – in 2021 – since that night.
"I want it all," said the ambitious boxer in 2018, "but I'll take my time - first the Midlands title, then we'll see where we go from there.
"My dream is to be the second smallest world champion of all time."
The record is held by South Africa's former light-flyweight titleholder Baby Jake Matlala, 4ft 10ins in his stocking feet.
Birmingham fight fans could be forgiven for letting Taylor slip under the radar: there's a papertrail of aliases.
Friends know him as Showy McKenzie, he fights as Reiss Taylor and goes under the facebook handle Showy Alkaline.
His amateur career, with Windmill and Aston ABC, comprised only 12 fights, but Taylor did leave the upaid ranks with a national novice title.
"I'm enjoying professional boxing," he said. "I feel confident. Because I've been fighting on the road, there hasn't been the added pressure of selling tickets.

"I think I can achieve something from the game as long as I stick to my game and listen to my coaches. I have a good defence, I'm fast and I'm ambidextrous - I can switch hit."
Showy, a care worker from Handsworth, had hopes of making his mark as a footballer but his diminutive size scuppered that.
“It was always football,” he admitted. “I was at Aston Villa in the academy for eight years as a striker.
“I think the reason I didn’t make it was my height, not my ability, and I fell out of love with football.”
“The wisecracks about my height come and go,” he grinned. “My mum and dad are tall, but I get my height from my nan.
“And I think it’s an advantage in the ring because you can get to the body more easily.”