JOSH RIGHT TO JOIN THE ELITE
Shane McGuigan posted the phrase on social media the other night along with a thumbs down emoji.
But you didn’t need any fingers pointing to know who the trainer was referring to.
It’s fair to say Josh Taylor’s decision to do a Harry and Meghan didn’t go down so well with the McGuigan camp. It’s understandable.
Barry McGuigan was the manager who signed up Taylor when he turned pro.
Son Jake was the promoter and Barry’s other boy Shane was the trainer.
The three of them helped lead the fighter from the Carl Frampton undercards, up to the Meadowbank Arena, through to topping the bill in the Hydro and the O2 Arena in London.
Barry McGuigan is one of the most passionate and enthusiastic men in boxing.
As well as being a total legend.
There is no doubt he played a huge role in getting Taylor to this point.
It showed his commitment last month when he flew in to Glasgow to be at the table when Josh won the Sunday
Mail and sportscotland Sports Personality of the Year award.
There is an aura around the Clones Cyclone and it will have taken plenty of soul searching for the Edinburgh lad to make this call.
Undoubtedly, the McGuigans will feel hard done by now Taylor has made the switch to management team MTK Global and crack American outfit Top Rank Promotions for the next stage of his career – where the real money will be made.
There will probably be some kind of legal battle but we all know how it will probably end.
Top Rank will write a decent cheque and the McGuigans will be left brewing bad blood for years to come.
But it would be a waste of time. Barry McGuigan knows more than anyone that boxing is a ruthless business. If Josh had come up short in his last couple of fights there would be every chance they would be the ones writing the Dear John letter.
It’s the way of the world. Taylor shouldn’t be slaughtered for making the tough call. He should be applauded.
This is a lad who is already at the top but has a fierce desire to smash his way into the elite.
Top Rank have just rolled out the red carpet for him to fast track his way to boxing immortality.
Taylor will get a crack at Jose Ramirez later this year to become undisputed light welterweight king, to grab all four belts and be among the top five fighters on the planet.
That’s not just in his division –that’s in all of the divisions.
Beyond that there is a likely crack at Terence
Crawford, who owns the job lot at welterweight. These are not just big fights for the Scot. They are mega fights.
Taylor could make enough money in two years to live like a king for the rest of his life. He knows boxing is a race against time. At 29 years old, Taylor might have only 16 bouts under his belt but he’s already in his prime and he needs to cash in.
By ditching the McGuigans he has made his path clearer and quicker.
He can’t afford to spend 18 months in negotiations or fighting boxing’s brutal politics.
There was an inevitability about this break-up.
Taylor will always be grateful to
Barry – and even more so Shane.
But Josh has also watched his best pals Carl Frampton and Lee McGregor go through messy splits with the McGuigans that ended up in court. It was only a matter of time. The big shame is the baby ends up out with the bathwater.
Trainer Shane has proved he’s top class but it’s not a relationship that can continue if there’s a break with Barry the boss and Jake the promoter.
Taylor might have been told all three were separate entities but neither he, nor anyone else, bought it. It was always going to cause a problem.
Losing Shane will be a blow but wait and see the queue of top coaches lining up to be in Taylor’s corner for the next phase of his success story. The Tartan Tornado has already got the boxing world’s attention but we are about to see this down-to-earth lad from Prestonpans go global. He’s about to be talked about alongside Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, Crawford, Errol Spence and Manny Pacquiao, and is well down the road to becoming Scotland’s greatest ever fighter.
Taylor has all the tools – including being just as ruthless out of the ring as he is in it. Shane McGuigan’s dog might be loyal but this tartan terrier is straining at the leash.