After his final competitive wrestling match, David Taylor addressed the cheering crowd at Tirana, Albania, but didn’t leave his boots on the mat. Just like boxers, who leave their gloves in the ring, wrestlers unlace their shoes as a symbolic gesture. However, the former Olympic gold medalist explained why he didn’t follow the age-old custom after his final match at the 2024 World Championships.

“I don’t think I needed to leave my shoe on the mat, but I appreciate the moment out there,” said Taylor, citing his over 15-year-old long illustrious career and respect for wrestling. In fact, the interviewer even pointed out how Magic Man might’ve been “playing” this audience and teasing them to take off his shoes before getting off that map. Yet that wasn’t his intention, because Taylor isn’t ready to take off his wrestling shoes.

While the American wrestling icon may have walked away from competitive wrestling for good, he is not ready to leave the sport. So what truly motivated the 33-year-old to keep his shoes on, was because he didn’t believe the 2024 World Championship marked the end of his wrestling career. That’s because next time David Taylor may return to the stage as coach.

“I’m not done wrestling, you know. I’m not leaving my shoes out there. I got a recruiting visit tomorrow.” Magic Man told Flo Wrestling. “My shoes are gonna be on Monday, in the practice room, you know, helping these next guys,” said the wrestling icon about coaching his pupils at Oklahoma, wearing those same shoes. In fact, the wrestler revealed some interesting news.

“Zahid’s gonna be here on Monday… I gotta help him now,” said Magic Man. Taylor defeated Zahid Valencia at the U.S. World Team Trials to make it to the 2024 World Championship. However, his statement revealed the fact Taylor is not fully focused on helping others build their legacy in the sport of freestyle wrestling.

The 33-year-old’s career has been a roller coaster of highs and lows in the last four months. However, going on his own terms didn’t just satisfy Taylor’s competitive itch but also earned Olympian a respectful send-off from his old rival.

David Taylor earned a tribute from his rival

During his time as one of the most dominant champions in the world, David Taylor had only a rival who could go toe to toe and even defeat the wrestler. In fact, for years, Taylor and Iran Hassan Yazdani were locked in a battle of getting the better of one another on the world stage. It seemed the only two people who could defeat these two rivals were themselves.

So when David Taylor retired for good at the 2024 World Championships, Yazdani penned a tribute to his former 86 kg archrival. “In the past few years, having a good rival like you has been the greatest motivation for me.” Yazdani posted on his Instagram story shortly after Magic Man’s bronze medal-winning effort. The three-time Olympic medalist also wished Taylor well on his coaching journey.

“Wishing you the best of luck in your new journey.” added the Iranian champion. The 33-year-old also spoke about his rival during his post-bronze medal-winning speech. “Training revolved around wrestling Yazdani… He pushed me towards the end… Without each other we didn’t really have a lot that we were doing there for a couple of years,” explained the wrestling icon.

However, not with competitive free-style wrestling behind him, David Taylor is focused on helping the next generation. Who knows? The next time Taylor and Yazdani could meet on the world stage, it may be one of Magic Man’s pupils who’ll take on the Iranian champion.