The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Step closer to world title for Taylor
Josh Taylor left Glasgow’s SSE Hydro with the smell of a world title in his nostrils following his no-nonsense WBC silver super lightweight title win over Winston Campos.
The Nicaraguan was a late replacement for veteran Humberto Soto, who was injured while sparring, but that change was irrelevant to the man from Prestonpans.
In the venue where he won his Commonwealth gold medal in 2014, Taylor felled Campos twice in the second round before referee Victor Loughlin called a halt in the third when the tentative and nervy challenger went down again.
The 27-year-old Scot extended his winning record to 12 fights, 11 by stoppage, and he senses that he is on the way to the very top. He said: “I always believed, even when I pulled on the gloves at the Commonwealth Games, that I was going to become a world champion.
“I can smell it now. My dream is so close to becoming a reality,” he said.
Manager and promoter Barry Mcguigan spoke of Taylor being “on the cusp of a world title fight”.
He said: “Realistically we’re looking at Jose Ramirez and Amir Imam, who are fighting on St Patrick’s Day, the 17th.”
Kell Brook is on course for a showdown against Amir Khan at the back end of this year after a spectacular secondround knockout of Sergey Rabchenko at the Sheffield Arena on his first foray into the light-middleweight division.
Khan will end a near twoyear layoff when he takes on Canada’s Phil Lo Greco at a catchweight of 150lb in Liverpool next month.
Deontay Wilder declared he was ready for Anthony Joshua after coming through his toughest test yet to successfully defend his WBC heavyweight title with a 10th-round knockout of Cuba’s Luis Ortiz.
The unbeaten American survived a brutal onslaught in the seventh round on his way to a 40th career victory and seventh title defence at New York’s Barclays Centre.