WORLD SUPER SERIES
BOXING
BY EWING GRAHAME RING legend Barry McGuigan is praying Josh Taylor wins the race against time to become World Super Series light-welterweight champion.
Lifting the Muhammad Ali Trophy would also guarantee the Tartan Tornado would own the IBF and WBA titles and McGuigan, who manages the Prestonpans puncher, wants the 27-year-old to strike while the iron’s hot.
Taylor faces unbeaten American Ryan “Blue Chip” Martin in the quarter-final of the tournament at Glasgow’s Hydro on November 3.
All the boxers in it aren’t allowed to accept other fights until the competition ends, so even offers to compete for the WBC or WBO belts would need to be turned down.
But McGuigan just wants the whole thing over with as quickly as possible so that Taylor is still at the peak of his powers when it comes to unifying the division.
He said: “I don’t know when the semi-finals will be – that’s entirely up to the organisers. KASH FAROOQ makes his first British bantamweight title defence against Iain Butcher in Glasgow on November 30.
The unbeaten ace stopped Jamie Wilson inside 70 seconds last month to claim the title and now faces another Scot at the Emirates Arena, live on BoxNation.
“As long as there aren’t any injuries they’ll have the whole thing wrapped up in the next nine months.
“That’s great for the fighters. As an old-school pro I don’t like long gaps between contests – going 12 months without a fight is not good.
“You have a window of time in your life as an athlete when you can perform at your best and, once you go past that time, it’s gone forever.
“You can’t go away for a year then flick the switch back on – this game’s about continuity, fighting regularly and keeping on top of your weight.
“The biggest issue in our sport is that guys balloon up in weight then have to lose it quickly but if you keep them active and let them know what’s coming up they’ll be bang on it.
“Josh is responsible and he’s never far away from it. One time he put on a stone and a half but he’s really got his head together now, he’s focused.”
Taylor has been training so hard for the Martin fight he