TAYLOR FACES KHONGSONG TITLE BOUT NEXT MONTH

JOSH TAYLOR will defend his IBF belt against unbeaten Thai Apinun Khongsong on September 26 — the 50th anniversary of Ken Buchanan winning the world title after beating Ismael Laguna in Puerto Rico. The Prestonpans fighter remains on a ‘collision course’ to completely unify the super-lightweight division and legendary promoter Bob Arum still has the Scot, who won the WBA and IBF crowns by triumphing in the World Boxing Super Series last year, lined up for a lucrative head-to-head with WBA and WBC champ Jose Ramirez. But first the American fighter must defend his titles against Viktor Postol, a previous Taylor victim, in Las Vegas this weekend. And Taylor has been forced to put his IBF belt on the line next month — in front of no fans but broadcast live from a London studio on BT Sport and ESPN.

Buchanan is one of Taylor’s heroes and fighting on the anniversary of his title victory will add further gravitas to the occasion for the 29-year-old. ‘I’m excited to be back in the ring after a long lay-off,’ said Taylor. ‘The coronavirus had put everything on hold for a few months, so it’s been nice to be in the gym again and back to some normality. I didn’t want a warm-up fight, so getting straight back in there against my mandatory challenger is great, as it’s kept me fully focused. ‘I want big fights in my career, so this is an important fight with my belts on the line. ‘Training has been going well and I’m feeling fit and strong. I’ve watched a fair bit of my opponent and I’ve seen his strengths and weaknesses, and I’m very confident going into this fight. I can’t wait.’ Khongsong’s 16-0 record matches Taylor’s own professional tally, with the Thai credited with 13 knockouts to the Scot’s even dozen. But the mandatory challenger, reigning IBF Pan Pacific and Asian champion, has fought only once outside of his home country, travelling to Japan to KO former world title challenger Akihiro Kondo 18 months ago. Top Rank boss Arum, who counts Ramirez among his fighters, bluntly declared: ‘Josh Taylor is on a collision course to a fight for the undisputed title — but he must first get past a very tough Thai fighter in Khongsong.’ Promoter Frank Warren added: ‘Josh is doubtless set for many big nights over in the States. But he’s got business to attend to here first and we are backing him to win. ‘We have successfully played our part in bringing boxing back for the fans on TV and I said that we would be upping the levels as we go along and that is what we are doing here. I am thrilled we have secured Josh to perform on the BT Sport platform.’ Jack Conlan, vice-president of Taylor’s management company, MTK Global, added: ‘Josh has used the pandemic to his own advantage using the lay-off to spend more time with his new coach Ben Davison and building a relationship together. ‘Khongsong provides a real tough test as he’s the mandatory for a reason, undefeated and a big puncher. Josh really needs to be on his game to keep the big fight with Jose Ramirez in the pipeline.’