Bernie Taylor fought as a professional from 1958 to 1965 and won the South African bantamweight and featherweight titles in a 42-fight career, with three of his losses coming against the Steyn brothers; Stoffel twice and Andries once.
His only other loss was against Irishman Freddie Gilroy on 5 December 1959 at the Kings Hall in Belfast, when he was stopped in the fifth round in a challenge for the British Empire bantamweight title.
Born Bernard Edward on 6 February 1936, in Gumtree in the Free State, Bernie made his professional debut on 30 May 1958 at the Jan Smuts Stadium in Pietermaritzburg, winning on points over four rounds against Boet Stander.
In his sixth fight he won the South African bantamweight title with a 12-round points win over the experienced Dennis Adams at the Ice Drome in Durban on 30 May 1959
Having only his ninth fight he was rushed into a match with Gilroy, who was 19-0 at the time, and a weight-drained Taylor had no chance against the highly rated Gilroy on a freezing cold December night.
After this setback he moved up to the featherweight class and decided to campaign in England, fighting to a draw with Hugh O’Neill at the Queensway Hall in Paddington and winning against Johnny Howard, Ronnie Jones and Les Franks. The fight against O’Neill was a thriller and the fans threw Nobbins (money) into the ring after the eighth round.
On his return to South Africa he scored wins over Hennie Snyman, Phil Kleynhans, and Mickey Ravell before he won on a ninth-round stoppage over Rudy Oosthuizen for the vacant South African featherweight title at the City Hall in Durban on 8 April 1961.
After another four wins he lost on points over six rounds against Stoffel Steyn in the Johannesburg City Hall and only ten days later at the Ice Dome in Durban on a 16 September 1961 he was stopped in the first round by Steyn in a return match.
Taylor would make defences of his SA featherweight title against Raymond Becker who retired at the end of the sixth round with a dislocated shoulder and in a return with Becker he retained the title on points over 12 rounds.
He also made successful defences of the title against Eddie Ludick (tko 11), Becker in a return match (points 12) and Tollie Pretorius on two occasions even though the Boxing Board would not sanction the second fight as for Taylors title because Pretorious was six ounces over the limit.
On 29 November 1963 he stopped Raymond Bekker in the eighth round in a non-title fight and rather sadly Becker collapsed after the stoppage and was rushed to hospital where he underwent a brain operation and had a steel plate inserted in his skull.
In 1964 old opponent, Londoner Johnny Howard travelled to South Africa and had two fights with Bernie one in Cape Town and the other Durban, losing both on points over ten rounds.
After the wins over Howard he racked up another seven victories before defending the SA featherweight title against Andries Steyn on 10 September 1965 at the City Hall in Durban.
The younger Steyn was just too strong for Taylor who retired at the end of the sixth round with a broken jaw.
This was to be his last fight and he finished with a record of 37 wins, 4 losses, and 1 draw, with 14 of his wins coming inside the distance.