Ben Davison, trainer of undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor, says they are fully focused on the upcoming defense against unbeaten mandatory challenger Jack Catterall on February 26.

The fight was originally set for December 18 - but it was pushed back when Taylor withdrew with a training injury.

In the last few months, there has been a lot of talk regarding the possibility of Taylor making the jump to welterweight to face WBO world champion Terence Crawford - but none of that will happen unless he beats Catterall.

“There’s a lot of talk about what Josh might do and who he might face in the future but we’re only focused on Jack at the moment: for us, life doesn’t exist beyond February 26,” said Davison to The Herald of Scotland.

“There’s an aspect of Catterall having been given a lottery ticket and that makes him more dangerous. That’s something I’ve mentioned frequently and purposely around Josh. He’s worked his whole life to collect those belts, one by one, whereas Jack Catterall has the chance to pick them up all at once. So it’s very important that we don’t allow him to take advantage of that situation.

“Every bout has the same importance to me, whether it’s a four-rounder or for a world championship. If you’re in a six-round fight it’s because that’s your level at that time and you’re not going to move up to eight, ten and 12 rounds unless you keep winning – I treat every fight as though it’s for an undisputed title. But this is a massive step up for Jack. I have all the respect in the world for him and his skillset and we’ll prepare for him as though he’s the best fighter that there’s ever been on this planet.

“However, the reality is that he hasn’t shown that he’s anywhere near this level. Even when he beat Ohara Davies on points, I didn’t feel that he rose to the occasion. Josh will definitely rise to the occasion on February 26 and, if Jack doesn’t, then it will be a very quick show if that’s the case.”