NO IDOL BOAST
Taylor says they’ll have to rank him alongside his hero Buchanan if he wins all four world title belts
I knew I’d be world champ one day but this is beyond my dreams
UNDISPUTED. A single word containing more meaning than a thousand lines of impassioned debate.
It’s a status now within the grasp of Josh Taylor, whose unstoppable mission to unify boxing’s super-lightweight division gathers fresh momentum with every victory.
And, when the reigning WBA and IBF champion relieves Jose Ramirez of his WBO and WBC belts, an unofficial — but equally important — prize will also fall to the Tartan Tornado.
The best Scottish fighter of all time? Only Ken Buchanan, Taylor’s own personal hero, could lay even partial claim to that title.
Boxing historians will also note that Taylor’s first-round demolition of Apinun Khongsong on Saturday night fell on the 50th anniversary of Buchanan being crowned world lightweight champion after defeating Ismael Laguna in Puerto Rico.
‘To be up there with Ken as Scotland’s best ever would be brilliant, obviously,’ said Taylor, whose victory made a mockery of the IBF’s insistence on a mandatory defence.
‘And, if I do win the other two belts, I think I definitely have to be up there with Ken.
‘I would have to be recognised up there with him as the best ever.
‘To share that honour alongside Ken Buchanan, who is also from Edinburgh and has connections to my home town of Prestonpans, would be a wonderful piece of history. That’s my ambition, that’s my aim.
‘I always knew I would be world champion, 100 per cent. But to be fighting for all four belts is different.
‘To think I could do that in my 18th fight, five years down the line from turning pro, no, I don’t think I would be talking about becoming undisputed world champion just yet.
‘To be honest, that was beyond my dreams. I never thought that wee Josh Taylor from Prestonpans would be involved in a fight to become undisputed champion of the world.
‘It’s crazy when you talk about it like that.’
It’s been a while since normal expectations applied to Taylor, a former amateur star who has ripped through the pro ranks like some berserker in a desperate hurry.
Having gone to war in winning his two world titles, the World Boxing Super Series and the prestigious
Ring Magazine belt, he was never going to be troubled by Khongsong.
All it took, in the end, was a move straight from the Bruce Lee school of shortbut-deadly punches.
Be honest, the last time you saw someone crumple like that from a blow to the ribs was probably in a Bourne movie.
And Taylor knows that, across the pond, the entire Ramirez camp would have been watching. And worrying. ‘I think he has already got doubts,’ said the 29-year-old, a former Commonwealth Games gold medal winner. ‘From what him and his team have said in their interviews, I know they’re worried. ‘Is Ramirez himself afraid? No, I don’t think he is. But his manager and team having faith in him, that’s a different story. ‘I feel I deserve the shot at getting all four belts. I’ve beaten everyone else in the division, all the champions and former champions. ‘I don’t think there’s a better time for me to take Ramirez on — and I’m confident that I’ll beat him. I just want to jump in there and get my hands on him as soon as possible. ‘I never, ever, see anything more to his game. It’s the same old stuff, so I’m growing in confidence every time I see him.’
Taylor, who normally makes a point of buying his victims a postfight pint, admitted that he simply hadn’t seen Khongsong since the Thai fighter was stretchered out and taken for preliminary tests on his liver.
The 25-year-old was released from hospital yesterday after tests showed he had suffered no serious internal damage.
Speaking yesterday, Taylor revealed: ‘I thought for a moment I might have knocked his rib-cage back into his spine. He was badly hurt. I do know I am a terrific body-puncher.
‘I felt that punch sinking in straight away. You can tell the difference in your glove.
‘I felt the glove sinking right into his stomach and ribs. I felt it travel right up my arm, so I knew it was a good shot straight away.
‘And, when I saw him on the floor, I knew he was badly hurt. I knew he wasn’t getting up.
‘Aye, it was like some Bruce Lee six-inch punch! That’s all it takes sometimes.
‘The thing that made it worse for him is the double impact; he was trying to hit me as I hit him.
‘So his body would have been relaxed and moving. I hit him in the ribs and it’s caved him in. It just folded him in half.
‘I didn’t get my normal pizza after the fight. We just ordered McDonald’s to the hotel room, sat back and watched the fight.
‘That didn’t take long, so we actually watched a couple of other fights!’
It took looking at a couple of different angles on replay before we could spot the hammer blow that crippled the previously-undefeated Khongsong.
Better boxers than him have been left winded and wounded by Taylor’s body shots — brutal and thunderous hits straight out of the freezer scene in Rocky.
So, yes, Ramirez may well prefer to face undefeated English boxer Jack Catterall, the mandatory challenger for the WBO belt, than expose his ribs to that kind of a pounding.
As Taylor points out, however, the fact that all three boxers in this particular title triangle share either management and/or promoters should iron out any kinks.
Offer Catterall the chance to fight the winner of TaylorRamirez for all the marbles and, well, he’ll surely see sense. Especially if it means going up against his fellow Brit in one of the biggest UK fight nights for many a year.
Having taken apart Viktor Postol, Ryan Martin, Ivan Baranchyk and Regis Prograis — with a combined record of 94-1 before they faced the Scot — in a series of all-out battles before the Khongsong bout, Taylor has no reason to fear either man.
All he wants is to fight in front of fans again, with Easter Road or Edinburgh Castle still the venues of choice.
‘Hibs are really keen to have me there and it’s a great stadium — obviously they’re my team,’ he revealed.
‘It would be easier to do at a football stadium. With the Scottish weather, you might need a bit of shelter in the stands!
‘But the Castle, in terms of a historic and memorable event, up there on the Esplanade on a good summer’s night.
‘The Castle all lit up in the background, fireworks going off after I win the belt. You can tell I’ve given this some thought!
‘Obviously I want that fight next, whenever it’s ready. But, being totally honest, a fight of that magnitude has to be in front of fans.
‘A fight of that size can’t happen without fans. It would be wrong.
‘Up at Edinburgh Castle, that’s the stuff that dreams are made of, a once-in-a-lifetime event. And it would be brilliant for Scottish sport, not just boxing.’
There’s no disputing that, at least.