Anthony Taylor explains why Gabe Silva fight fell through, wants boxing match against Tyron Woodley

Anthony Taylor was supposed to box Gabe Silva, the son of Anderson Silva, later this month but that won’t be the case anymore.

Taylor, the former Bellator fighter, has become one of the top draws in influencer boxing as he’s currently the Misfits boxing light heavyweight champion. Taylor is 3-1 in Misfits and was booked to defend his title against Silva on March 23 which was exciting for the MMA veteran.

“I was excited because I could build a storyline. We all know how legendary his father is, so me beating Gabriel could lead to me fighting Anderson,” Taylor said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “The storyline would have been really good, I beat his son, I call out his dad and he tries to avenge his son’s loss.”

Unfortnately, just over a month out from the fight, the championship bout fizzled out. According to Anthony Taylor, Gabe Silva withdrew after he refused to have a rehydration clause in the contract, given he is the champion.

“So, for a week-and-a-half, I was going back and forth with someone from Misfits and someone from Gabriel’s camp. They pretty much didn’t want me fighting at 175 knowing that I would go up weight,” Taylor explained. “What they wanted to do was put a rehydration clause in a championship fight and I’m the champion. The challenger is telling the champion I don’t want to fight you unless there is a rehydration clause. He was trying to weight-drain myself so he could feel comfortable. I said I wasn’t going to fight with a rehydration clause, take it or leave it and that is why the fight isn’t going on.”

Although Silva pulled out due to the rehydration clause, Anthony Taylor already had his doubts the fight would even happen.

“It was strange, I was looking at Twitter and his Instagram to see how the engagement goes, and he didn’t once post about it, not even the fight poster,” Silva said. “It was kind of odd that I wasn’t able to get a conversation with him, so I just had a feeling he was going to do something, I had a bad feeling he wasn’t going to fight.”

With the fight not happening, Anthony Taylor is hopeful he can return soon and mentions Tyron Woodley as a potential opponent next time out.

“I would love to fight Slim, Joe Fournier, Tyron Woodley, those big fights, those three big fights are on my mind. I’m always up for a good scrap, you know me,” Taylor said.