I can learn a lot from Murray’s determination and grit about what it takes to conquer the world
THE last time they got together, the conversation was sparked by a shared interest in a little patch of green down in Leith.
When Josh Taylor next catches up with Andy Murray, taking over the world will be top of the agenda — and discussed in the finest detail.
These gladiators, flagbearers for Scotland’s sporting ambition, were colleagues on the British Olympic team back in 2012 and got talking at an athletes’ gathering in London when Taylor thought he would use the common currency of a love for Hibernian as a suitable route for an introduction.
Murray won the first of his two Olympic gold medals that summer, a straight-sets win over Roger Federer in the final proving a landmark triumph that paved the way for his first Grand Slam success in the US Open later that year and the two Wimbledon titles that followed in the ensuing three seasons.
Since then, Taylor has also risen to the upper echelons of his own discipline as the WBA and IBF super-lightweight champion with a unification match against WBC WBO belt-holder Jose Ramirez beckoning just as soon as they have got upcoming mandatory defences out of the way.
The difference is that the 29-year-old from Prestonpans, having recently signed a deal with leading US promoters Top Rank, has only just been offered entry through the portal into the absolute top level of the game, the rarefied atmosphere where the showdowns for the ages happen and legends are made.
Murray has been there, seen it and done it on the court. His place in the pantheon beside Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic — these giants he has jousted with so memorably — is already set in stone.
It’s why Taylor, who shared ideas with the Scotland rugby squad last Friday ahead of their 13-6 Calcutta Cup loss to England at BT Murrayfield, would love to pick up with him again after all these years and all these adventures. To soak up all the benefit of his experience, to share Murray’s deep love of boxing and, most importantly, to gain an understanding of precisely what it takes to progress from gold medallist and champion to an all-time great. ‘You know, I have only ever met him once and that was at the Olympics in 2012,’ said Taylor. ‘I met him just before the opening ceremony and, as a result of knowing he was a Hibby, started talking and told him that I was in for the boxing and had been the first Scottish guy to qualify for a number of years. ‘He wished me all the best and we spoke for a good five minutes. It would be good to meet him again. ‘I know he really loves boxing and seems a proper nut who watches it a lot. Maybe we could do a cross-session and he could teach me a wee bit of tennis and I could teach him a wee bit of boxing. It would be really interesting.
‘I do believe that people from different sports can benefit each other by getting together.
‘In terms of his drive and his determination, there is absolutely no doubt that I would get something valuable from sharing ideas with him.
‘He got to the finals of a couple of major tournaments and just fell short. Yet, he kept persevering and driving and showing that focus despite the disappointment of not quite reaching his goal and he’s now done it.’
Taylor, of course, has come a long way, too. He lost to experienced Italian Domenico Valentino in the round of 16 at London 2012.
However, he returned to win gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow two years later before turning professional and embarking upon a 16-fight career that has brought breathtaking progression to the position of being rated one of the best poundfor-pound campaigners around.
But this is where it really gets serious. Victory over Ramirez — or his mandatory challenger Viktor Postol — would make him Scotland’s first undisputed champion since the great Ken Buchanan cleaned up the lightweight division by beating Ruben Navarro by unanimous decision in Los Angeles in 1971.
From there, the step up to welterweight beckons and the prospect of earning multi-million pound paydays against real, copperbottomed stars of the sport. Terence Crawford, a three-weight world champion, is signed to Top Rank and is already lined up as a future opponent.
Veteran campaigner Manny Pacquiao, whom Taylor’s Staffordshire bull terrier is named after, holds the WBA title at 147lb, with WBC and IBF kingpin Errol Spence Jnr an exceptional talent reaching his peak.
To wring everything out of his career, Murray had to go toe-toand
There is no doubt I would get something from sharing ideas with him
toe with bona-fide legends and find a way to raise his game and win after the heartbreak of losing two finals at the Australian Open.
Taylor will have to do the same and he knows the 32-year-old from Dunblane may just be able to offer that little bit of insight that provides the key.
‘I don’t want to fight Pacquiao,’ laughed Taylor. ‘He is my hero. Then again, just sharing a ring with my hero would be absolutely brilliant. It would be amazing.
‘It would be good to talk to Andy, though, about his mentality and how he approached those matches, taking on guys who are legends.
‘However, I can imagine he would have pretty much the same mentality and mindset as me.
‘Boxing and tennis are both individual sports, you have got to believe in yourself and you have got to work and train really hard.
‘When things aren’t going right, you have still got to dig deep and find that drive and motivation. I do believe that we wouldn’t be too different in that regard.’
Arranging that meeting in the not-too-distant future certainly shouldn’t be too problematic.
Sources close to Murray report that he is a real admirer of Taylor and there is no question that his fascination with the sweet science — and its practitioners — remains undiminished.
Murray caught the bug when being taken, aged 14, to watch former heavyweight contender Audley Harrison box at Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall — a second-round stoppage of Pole Piotr Jurczyk — back in October 2001.
Passing one fighter who had just been knocked out on the way into the arena, he fell in love with the intensity, the sheer relentlessness of close combat, immediately.
He sees clear parallels between his discipline and that of the ring, too. The training is brutal, for one. However, as he has stated previously, there are also some unavoidable similarities in terms of tactics.
‘It’s a bit different in tennis because I can play one guy today and a different guy tomorrow,’ said Murray. ‘In boxing, they obviously have a long way to prepare, but it’s the same in that you have to find weaknesses in your opponent.
‘You hit the ball in certain spots where you might not be hitting to the weakness initially, but you’re trying to figure out ways of hurting them, putting them in positions that make them feel uncomfortable.
‘You can choose whether to defend or attack. Any mistake, especially, at the highest level, does get punished.’
Of course, Taylor and Murray find themselves in noticeably different stages of their careers right now.
Taylor’s star is very much in its ascent, last year’s World Boxing Super Series and its contests with the likes of Ivan Baranchyk and Regis Prograis delivering two versions of the world superlightweight title with so much more on the horizon.
Murray, meanwhile, is still plotting his comeback after hip resurfacing surgery early last year — with hopes of defending his Olympic title in Tokyo in August not yet extinguished, despite his enforced withdrawal from the Australian Open.
Yet, the competitor of today is of as much interest to Taylor as the Murray of yesteryear thanks to his admission last summer that he has fallen back in love with tennis and now wants to savour every last moment he has left after previously wanting to retire because of fitness problems.
‘He’s had the injury and he is trying to use all that focus, determination and power to get back to where he wants to play — while enjoying it as well,’ noted Taylor.
‘He has taken the pressure off himself through his achievements and I can relate to that.
‘When I first arrived on the scene (in June 2018), it was against Viktor Postol, a former world champion. I put a hell of a lot of pressure on myself leading up to that fight.
‘I kept telling myself: “You must win, you must do this, you must do that…”
‘I was really uptight and tense and I feel I showed that in my performance.
‘Andy has spoken about how he beat the big names, winning major trophies, and no longer feels the need to prove himself. He can relax and enjoy the moment.
‘Here’s hoping that helps the results now come and lets him get his best form back because he is not putting pressure on himself.
‘I want to do the same with my boxing. I can really relate to some of the things that he has been saying of late.’
Looks like Ramirez, then, isn’t the only match-up that has to happen for Taylor this year. His people need to talk to Murray’s people ASAP.
Who knows what chapters their little natter may help write this time round?
lJOSH TAYLOR was speaking to promote the MTK Academy, a nationwide initiative run by management firm MTK Global to allow youngsters between the ages of 16 and 19 to blend an interest in boxing with full-time education programmes. It begins in September 2020.
It’d be good to talk to Andy to find out how he prepared to face legends