Taylor won’t look past what’s right in front of him in the ring
JOSH Taylor has vowed that he will not make the same mistake as Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte when he locks horns with Apinun
Khongsong on Saturday night.
The Edinburgh-born fighter will put his WBA and IBF belts on the line against his unbeaten Thai opponent at the BT Sport studios.
Taylor (16-0-0) is the overwhelming favourite to move one step closer to setting up a mouth-watering undisputed bout against Jose Ramirez.
But the 29-year-old is adamant that he will not become complacent after watching heavyweight champion Joshua and Whyte both suffer shock losses to
Andy Ruiz and Alexander Povetkin respectively.
Taylor said: “Of course it’s dangerous, it’s a world title fight. It’s his big chance to change his life and become world champion, he will try and take my head off.
“I’ve seen things I think
I can expose but it’s very dangerous, it only takes one punch.
“You look at what happened with Povetkin-Whyte, Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz, these upsets happen.
“I believe Anthony Joshua looked over Andy Ruiz and Dillian Whyte was looking over Povetkin and look what happened.
“If he does win it is an upset, I’m a massive favourite for this fight but I’m not looking at it, I’m taking it very seriously. He’s got power and I need to be very wary and switched on.”
Taylor is also reaping the benefits of working under new trainer Ben Davison after taking too many punches in his world title bouts with Regis Prograis and Ivan Baranchyk.
Speaking to Boxing Social, he added: “At times I was getting lazy with my feet and taking shots I should not be there for.
“We made it second nature again, I’m still a very offensive fighter and will get at you, that will never leave me but I have been brushing up on the things I have been neglecting.
“I have not really taken much punishment but in the last two fights I’ve stood and taken punches that I really should not have been there for and I could have made it easier for myself.”
Taylor is adamant his 11-month career lockdown has done him the world of good ahead of the bout.
He last laced his gloves in October, but believes that an extended break is just what he needed. Taylor said: “It was probably my first real break from boxing since I turned pro five years ago and it’s just been fight after fight and just grinding it out in training all the time.
“I’ve been relaxing and switching off from boxing, and it was a pretty good time to sit and reflect on what I’ve achieved in the sport in such a short space of time, and have a bit of pride in what I’ve done.
“I was able to have a little bit more time with Ben and get to know him. We clicked straight away and I think this chapter in my career is going to be even better than my first one.”
Meanwhile, the bout at the weekend will be Taylor’s first under Bob Arum’s Top Rank banner. Arum raised the prospect of staging a future showdown between Taylor and Ramirez in Taylor’s home city of Edinburgh, which gives the former Olympian even greater incentive to get the job done in style on Saturday.
“I’ve never done a fight in Edinburgh,” admitted Arum.
“Jose Ramirez said to me he doesn’t care where the fight is, wherever it’s economically better to do the fight. Whether that means Scotland or London or back in the United States, wherever the fight makes the most sense.”