By Ryan Songalia

    

Promoter Eddie Hearn believes in Ryan Taylor. A lot. It's more than belief really, it's faith. Faith that the aggressive, unassuming native of the Upminster section of London, England will one day justify the hype surrounding his professional debut, which takes place this Thursday, September 15 at the Bethnal Green in London. An opponent hadn't been announced by Tuesday morning.

    

Hearn made the audacious move to have the 22-year-old junior welterweight prospect open up the 20th edition of the Prizefighter series, the first time that a non-Prizefighter combatant is appearing on one of the bills.

Appearing alongside a tournament that has launched the careers of British fan favorites of Gavin Rees and Martin Rogan, Taylor will be thrust into a spotlight unlike anything he's before encountered.

    

"We've made a huge fuss of him," admits Hearn. "We shouldn't have really, but we have and we've given him that platform. Maybe I've put too much pressure on him. My only one concern is that it doesn't all get to him because this Prizefighter show is a huge platform for him in the UK. It's gonna be live on TV in his first outing, so there's a lot of pressure there.

    

"We wouldn't do it with any normal kid; we would only do this with someone with talent and also such a lovely kid who just loves the sport."

    

Taylor, who had approximately 80 amateur bouts highlighted by a trip to the British Amateur Boxing Association Nationals finals, has criss-crossed the Atlantic, training with former welterweight world champion Aaron "Superman" Davis in New York City for a single Daily News Golden Gloves bout.

    

The move to New York came on a whim. Taylor, who had just completed his engineering apprenticeship at UK building services management company NG Bailey, had decided to act on the inspiration he received from the 1999 Golden Gloves documentary "On the Ropes".

    

Taylor rented a room from Taylor Hallman, a boxing photographer from The Bronx that would have a profound impact on Taylor's career.

    

Shortly after the Golden Gloves loss, Taylor returned to England to compete in Nationals. Realizing that his aggressive body-punching style would be better appreciated in the professional ranks, he turned professional.

    

And that's when things began to happen.

    

Shortly before leaving to Atlantic City to promote his charge Carl Froch's Super Six bout with Glen Johnson, Taylor's trainer Tony Sims approached Hearn about the young upstart he was about to turn pro.

    

"Tony Sims comes to me and says, 'Look, we got this amateur kid, he had a real good amateur record, fought in the Golden Gloves, really exciting puncher and I think if we train him properly he can be a great fighter.'"

"When I got to the Froch-Johnson fight, Taylor said to me, 'You ought to look at this kid Ryan Taylor, he's got something a little bit special' and I went home and I didn't really think anything of it. I was sitting on the plane and I thought, 'Ryan Taylor, I've heard that name.' I went to Tony Sims and said, 'Have you got Ryan Taylor?' and he said, 'This is the kid I've been telling you about!'

Taylor is certainly in good company in the gym, working alongside undefeated middleweight contender Darren Barker, who is preparing himself to challenge middleweight kingpin Sergio Martinez on October 1 in Atlantic City, N.J. Taylor and Barker both share Tony Sims.

 

"I have learned a lot from him," said Taylor. "We have trained very hard together along with the other boys in the gym. "You watch and learn and take in everything they say as you hope one day with the continued hard work, sacrifices and dedication that you will be in the same position as them."

"Ryan is a terrific person to have in the gym," said Barker from his training camp in Niagara Falls, Canada. "He is very hard working and has a brilliant work ethic and along with that he brings his great personality with him. I think Ryan's best features are his punch power and his passion for the sport."

 

Taylor's hope is to score a quick knockout on The Prizefighter show, then return to America to fight on either Barker's undercard, or even stablemate Carl Froch, who faces Andre Ward on October 29 also in Atlantic City.

 

But first things are still first, and Hearn cautions that he has never even seen him fight as a pro yet. He isn't willing to wager that Taylor will rise to the level of Froch and Barker, but he's not hedging his bet either.

 

"I think what I like about Ryan Taylor is his lack of understanding about his ability," said Hearn. "He knows he's good, but he doesn't know how good he can be. And really, we don't know how good he can be. We just see a raw talent, an exciting young talent that we're gonna really push as hard as we can to give the best training and best facilities and best support to and see what comes out the other side."

Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to GMA News and the Filipino Reporter newspaper in New York City. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.