INSPIRED BY A TRAGIC LOSS AND A LEGEND
Emotional Taylor pays tribute to grieving partner and Buchanan
BEFORE the next big challenge, the next daring bid to add further legend to an already-astonishing Scottish sporting story, Josh Taylor has a few important items on his to-do list.
Recover, obviously. As happy and clear-headed as he may have been in the celebratory wee small hours of Sunday morning, his right eye still looked like a piece of rotten fruit; he’ll be wearing that shiner with pride for a while yet.
And, if time is sure to heal the physical damage inflicted by the bobbing, weaving, rock-hard head of Regis Prograis, there are also a couple of emotional duties to be fulfilled.
He can’t wait to visit Ken Buchanan, for instance, and show off his newly-enhanced belt collection to a figure who means so much to so many.
Above and beyond even that? Just being there for partner Danielle Murphy is an absolute priority.
The family were left reeling when Danielle’s dad, James, died last month — when Taylor was in the midst of a gruelling training camp in Canterbury, devoting 100 per cent of his focus to becoming the first Scot to unify a weight division since Buchanan almost 50 years ago.
Choking back tears as he explained how the memory of ‘Jimmy’ had driven him to fight on while blind in one eye over the tumultuous closing rounds of Saturday night’s spectacular triumph at the 02 Arena, the Tartan Tornado confessed: ‘I’ve not been able to … sorry, lads, I’m getting emotional.
‘I’ve not been able to do the grieving properly. It’s been hard. I haven’t been able to be there properly for Danielle and the family as much as I’d like to have been. But I used it as motivation. Especially in those last two rounds when I couldn’t see.
‘It was pure determination and heart and I was thinking: “Do this, do this, do it for James”. Well, I called him Jimmy.
‘I was just thinking about doing it for him. I was driving forward for him. I couldn’t see and it was on pure heart and instinct.
‘Everything went out the window but there was no way I was getting beat. That was my drive.
‘My ring music was picked for him as well, because I knew he was going to be there with me. I just wanted to give my family a hug and a kiss.’
Reliving the moment when the ring announcer revealed he had beaten Prograis to add the WBA super-lightweight title, Ring Magazine belt and Muhammad Ali trophy to his IBF belt, Taylor said: ‘When they said “The fighting pride of Scotland …” the house came crashing down on me.
‘It was a huge relief and I was just overwhelmed with emotion.
‘I’m so happy for everyone who believed in me from the start.’
For Taylor, the World Boxing Super Series has been a fast track to greatness. Giving him almost no time to think. Or take care of the practical duties that life throws at everyone.
He and Danielle have just moved house but, as yet, there is barely a stick in the new property.
Looking at his new collection of valuables, the hat-trick of belts and a trophy that bears the name of The Greatest himself, the 28-year-old laughed as he said: ‘We’ve got the house but we’ve not got a bed or any furniture.
This is it. We will be sitting in the living room with no couch or chairs but we’ll have a couple of deckchairs and the Ali Trophy to look at. We haven’t even got a mantelpiece to put these on yet!’
Reflecting on a journey set to carry him even further as soon as a match can be made with WBC and WBO title holder Jose Ramirez, the former amateur star — a Commonwealth Games silver medallist in Delhi way back in 2010, then a champion at Glasgow 2014 — said: ‘I always believed I’d be world champion.
‘I never believed I’d be fighting for unifications, Ring Magazine belts, Ali Trophies, all within just 16 fights. It’s hard to put it into words.
‘I’ve been given the all-clear. I’m a wee bit sore from the body shots and my bum cheeks are numb from getting hit on the backside! But I feel fine.
‘Those last three-and-a-half rounds, I couldn’t see anything coming. I was fighting on instinct. It was an accidental clash of heads, he was ducking and diving and the eye closed up pretty quickly. All tactics went out of the window and it was pure heart and determination in those last two rounds.
‘I didn’t think the eye was that bad. I thought it was a graze but it closed up. You should see my good side! It’s a small price to pay.’
Laughing as he was reminded of
his pre-fight spat with Prograis, including a dig at the American for wearing sunglasses indoors, the Prestonpans pugilist saw the irony in the fact that a pair of shades might come in handy while his swollen, blackened eye heals.
But he insisted: ‘I’m not wearing sunglasses. I’ll walk about like this, I don’t care. I’ll wear it proud. In fact, I’ll also be walking around with these belts on for weeks, no matter what anyone says.’
Taylor has earned the right to drape himself in all three belts and pull the gigantic Ali Trophy behind him in a little red wagon for the rest of his days.
After what he did on Saturday night, emerging with a decisive points win from a fight that actually surpassed some of the hype, he deserves every reward heading his way.
In front of a huge crowd at a fantastic venue, he patiently and assuredly figured out a way to hurt an undefeated opponent — yes, another one — with the slippery defensive qualities of an eel dipped in grease.
It was part masterclass in the noble art, part street brawl. And it had the drama of a late, desperate surge from Prograis that very nearly caught a halfblind Taylor cold.
‘There’s always that question in your mind at the end of it,’ said Taylor.
‘You never know how the judges are going to see it. I was a bit nervous, to be honest, because I wanted it so much.
‘I still have to pay credit to Regis because I definitely hit him hard a couple of times and he never moved. He was a worthy champion. I’ve been through a war.’
In such conflicts are reputations made. On nights like this, true warriors fight for recognition.
As confident as he may be, Taylor still genuinely struggles to cope with being mentioned in the same breath as the great Buchanan, who famously became undisputed world lightweight champion by winning the WBA and WBC belts back in 1971.
‘I can’t wait to get back and go see Kenny,’ he admitted. ‘I’ve not seen him for a wee while, but he comes into my old amateur gym at Lochend quite often.
‘I will be able to go back and see him. And give him these belts and say: “Look, I’ve done this for you — I’m just like you, champ”. I can’t believe it.’