Taylor certain he will make it a perfect ten
JOSH TAYLOR may be a Londoner for now, but he unquestionably remains an Edinburgh boy at heart.
The 26-year-old returned from his London training base – where Shane and Barry McGuigan train and manage him – to hometown Edinburgh yesterday as he finalises plans for his WBC silver superlight weight title fight against Miguel Vazquez at the Royal Highland Centre on Saturday.
The Commonwealth gold medallist took part in a workout at the city’s Omni Centre and says it feels strange to be the main attraction at a place he knows so well.
“I grew up really close to here – I’d come here when I was at school and so to be a part of a big event like this, it’s pretty crazy,” he said. “It’s really good to be back in Edinburgh – my last fight was in Glasgow, which was brilliant, but I’m really looking forward to fighting again in Edinburgh.”
This weekend’s bout will be Taylor’s 10th fight as a pro and he concedes considerable experience to his Mexican opponent who, at 30 has had 44 bouts, and become IBF world lightweight champion along the way.
Taylor though, is unfazed, coming off the back of an impressive win over Englishman Ohara Davis in July which enhanced the Scot’s reputation no end.
“I’m super-confident,” he said. “I’m a little bit nervous because I know that this is going to be my biggest test so far but I’ve trained hard and I’m really focused.
“I think this will be a different kind of fight from the Davis fight. This will be a more technical, clever fight – I don’t think it will be as physical. I’m feeling great though and the closer this fight gets though, the more confident I’m feeling.”
The Scot is in tremendous shape - he has bulked up and broadened out over the last two years as a professional and he admits that this time around, he has made weight easier than ever before. “I’ve been sticking to my diet better than I’ve ever done before, which makes a huge difference,” he said.
“The last couple of fights, I’ve been losing a lot of weight the last few nights and it’s really stressful when you’re having to do that. But this time, I’ve taken it down gradually over a longer period of time and I feel so much better for it.”