ANOTHER ROUND?
Josh invites Vazquez for drinks after demolition
JOSH TAYLOR gave Miguel Vazquez an ice-cold stare before the first bell – then offered the Mexican an ice-cold beer after downing his rival in a devastating demolition job.
The 26-year-old had earned a drink after a gruelling 14-week training camp and superb nine-round masterclass against a notoriously tough fighter who has planted a flag on the world super-lightweight scene.
It summed up the down-to-earth Prestonpans hero that he invited his defeated opponent along to toast a thunderous night in Edinburgh’s Royal Highland Centre.
Taylor joked: “Man’s universal way of showing respect and making up. I’m not too sure what I’ll do next, out on the town first for a few pints and a pizza.”
The Scot is going places – and not just the pub.
The clip of Taylor using the universal language for inviting a pal for a pint with Vazquez at the end went viral on the internet – as did the footage of the sublime body shot that condemned the Mexican to his first stoppage defeat.
But Taylor sent out a huge message on Saturday which everyone in the fight game will have received loud and clear. He’s coming.
There has been plenty of hype around the youngster ever since his amateur days when he went all the way to claiming Commonwealth gold in 2014.
But his rise through the pro ranks has been even more impressive. Just 11 fights in he’s already got the Commonwealth title and is ranked among the best in the world.
Vazquez was meant to be his acid test. Instead it was the Mexican who melted. This was a guy who had never been stopped in 44 contests despite fights with genuine superstars such as Canelo Alvarez, Michael Bey and Timothy Bradley.
Breidis Prescott beat Amir Khan and put Vazquez down in the first round in his next fight but the former IBF world champ got off the canvas to win.
He was a major scalp and Taylor stuck him on the mantelpiece. The Tartan Tornado took his time, absorbed a few shots and studied his rival before stalking his prey. After a cagey start and a nasty gash above his left eye, he had to get streetwise at times.
But by the middle rounds he was wearing his man down, pounding the body and catching him flush with left hooks, uppercuts and right hands from around the corner. Power and speed, it’s a dangerous mix.
Vazquez doesn’t go down though. Or at least he didn’t.
The right to the guts would have stopped a lorry in its tracks. Taylor dug his fist so deep into the side of Vazquez it was a surprise his glove didn’t reappear with the Mexican’s liver on the end of it. It was savagely surgical. No one was getting up from that shot.
Taylor said: “I’m over the moon with that, it was a good performance. He was really tough and it was definitely the hardest test of my career.
“People say he wasn’t a puncher but he’s definitely more heavy handed than people give him credit for. It was good, he was very tough, very awkward and hard to hit clean.”
It was the perfect night for Taylor. He wanted to be tested but he also wanted to provide a statement of intent.
He got everything he wished for and more.
The lad from the east coast took on a Mexican and it was he who looked like he had been brought up on the mean streets of Guadalajara.
The quick hands, the relentless pressure, the weaving out of trouble and the barrage of body shots, you could have stuck a sombrero on Taylor’s head when his arm was raised aloft.
He made it look straightforward but it was no stroll. The cut could have brought down the crazy fog but it only seemed to straighten his senses.
Taylor said: “I was getting frustrated but once I relaxed and stopped trying so hard I started getting the shots off. That’s the first time anyone has ever stopped him so that’s a big, massive statement for me to make on the 140 scene.”