Taylor claims ‘idiotic’ Davies is just trying to wind him up

IF the real thing is as explosive as the Twitter war currently being waged by ring rivals Josh Taylor and Ohara Davies, their clash on July 8 at the Braehead Arena should prove extremely tasty.

Davies, the WBC Silver super lightweight champion from Hackney, rubbished Taylor’s status as Commonwealth champion.

But the Scot, who first came to prominence at the London Olympics before subsequently winning Commonwealth Games gold at Glasgow 2014, has not been slow to react.

The unbeaten 26-year-old from Prestonpans did his level best to provoke Davies with a series of taunts when the pair squared up for the first time in Glasgow last week.

Officials had expected the Londoner to kick off, but Davies suspended his social media ‘hate’ campaign — temporarily — and did not rise to the bait.

Even when Taylor went as far as to grind his left fist into the side of his rival’s head as they posed for the photographers, Davies maintained an air of cool indifference. He stressed there is no bad blood on his part, but Taylor claimed it was all an act designed to wind him up further.

‘The boy is an idiot at times, the things he says, the way he is disrespectful to people,’ said the Scot.

Taylor’s trainer, Shane McGuigan, defended his boxer, insisting: ‘It wasn’t trash talk by Josh. He is frustrated that Davies is constantly mouthing off.’

McGuigan conceded, however, that Taylor’s second defence of his Commonwealth crown in only his 10th professional bout is likely to prove his toughest so far.

‘Nobody in Britain wants to fight Josh apart from Davies,’ he said.

‘Ricky Burns would probably be too early for Josh at this juncture, but who else is there?

‘Tyrone Nurse has the British title locked down and the European doesn’t have as much recognition as it once had.

‘But Davies has the WBC Silver belt, which gives him a top-10 ranking with the WBC.

‘I feel if we do a good number on him, we’ll be in there with every governing body and ready to fight for a world title within six-to-10 months.’

While recognising that Davies, who boasts a perfect 15-fight professional record, poses a genuine threat to Taylor’s hope of securing a world title shot within the next year, McGuigan believes his boxer has the necessary pedigree to prevail.

‘Davies has long arms and is very awkward. He is also hard to hit clean,’ he said.

‘However, Josh has the pedigree. He’s boxed in the Olympics and won the Commonwealth Games. He has had nearly 200 amateur fights, whereas Davies has only 18.

‘Davies is getting better, so we’ll take him out now.’