Happy days as Taylor goes for home glory

Josh Taylor admits being handed a world title showdown on Scottish soil is a huge bonus.

The WBC Silver super-lightweight champion will enter the ring with Belarusian Ivan Baranchyk for the IBF belt on May 18 in Glasgow.

The bout is a semi-final in the World Boxing Super Series, with WBC Interim champion Regis Prograis and Kiryl Relikh, who is in possession of the WBA belt, also vying for a place in the final.

The undefeated Edinburgh-born boxer is returning to the SSE Hydro for a fourth successive fight and the 28-year-old, who has won all his 14 contests, is thrilled he will be backed by a partisan crowd at the 13,000 capacity arena. Taylor said: “It’s what I dream of but I always thought when I got a world title fight I’d have to travel for it, being the challenger.

“Now it’s in Scotland, fighting for the title in Scotland in front of my friends and family, and also it’s a great card as well with (WBA bantamweight champion) Naoya Inoue – big-time boxing in Scotland.

“The plan is to win it then go on the road and bring the support on the road as champion of the world – but to fight for it in Scotland is brilliant.”

Taylor, who overcame American Ryan Martin in a seventh-round stoppage at the semi-final stage in November, is just relieved the fight is going ahead after it was initially reported Baranchyk had pulled out.

He added: “The date got put back to May then I read some things that he’d pulled out and I was gutted.

“When I was first reading it, I was like ‘this is my dream fight up in the air’.

“I phoned (trainer) Shane McGuigan and the team but they said it was still on and it was just a bit of confusion behind the scenes.

“Happy days.”