RISE AND SHINE
BOXING TITANIC 12 MONTHS IN THE RING MICHAEL GANNON
BOXING fans hadn’t seen a fighter so out of it since Jon Voight was lying on a dressing room slab with the wee blonde boy who ended up on NYPD Blue greeting his eyes out, screaming, “Wake up champ.”
The lights were out and no one was home, yet big Tyson Fury did wake up. And get up.
He didn’t end up champ, right enough, but it was still an incredible moment in a sport that has had more than its fair share over the years.
Fury’s Undertaker impression against Deontay Wilder was jaw dropping on a global scale and the perfect bit of symbolism to sum up the Gypsy King’s comeback from the depths of despair.
It was a story left on the cutting room floor from the Rocky franchise.
The big chap is still not everyone’s cup of tea, as we can’t airbrush the drugs and anti-gay stuff – but no one can deny he’s box office.
But it’s a different kind of rise that has Scottish fight fans getting whipped into a frenzy on the home front.
Josh Taylor arrived on the global stage in 2018 and is heading to the stars in 2019.
It has been incredible having a ringside seat for this kid’s m.gannon@dailyrecord.co.uk stunning ride to the top and in the last 12 months the rest of the world got to see what we’ve been telling them about.
Taylor is no longer just the talk of Scotland. The Tartan Tornado is causing a stir in the boxing Meccas of New York, Las Vegas and LA.
His victory against Winston Campos in March was a total breeze, the points win over former world champ Viktor Postol was really impressive and arguably his toughest fight of the year.
But it was the punch-perfect dismantling of Ryan Martin in November that launched our boy on to another level.
Boxing is the most thrilling but also the hardest of sports to cover. Promoters stick fights on at the worst possible time for poor sports hacks.
The deadlines are so tight it feels like the teacher is watching you work.
Writing on the gun is nothing new when you are used to stuff like midweek Champions League matches but boxing is different.
A football team can be three up after half an hour and the game is done. In boxing anything can happen right up to the final bell.
But that Taylor fight against Martin wasn’t just the best watch of the year. It was also the easiest to report.
There wasn’t a single hint of fear the bout was going in any direction apart from a Taylor win.
The Scot was so good that night he was like Keanu Reeves in the Matrix. He was such a step ahead it was almost supernatural.
Taylor caught the Kentucky dude with so many body shots it was a miracle he didn’t end up clutching a kidney.
Martin came to Scotland undefeated and left looking bang average. He probably wasn’t as good as the American hype. The Yanks billed him as the next Terence Crawford but Taylor made him look more like Randy Crawford.
The World Boxing Super Series put on a heck of a show at the Hydro, with disco lights to rival Celtic Park, but it was