Josh Taylor said he was surprised but delighted that his first fight since signing for Top Rank will take place in his native Scotland, saying he had expected to be boxing in the United States after agreeing the deal.
Taylor defends his WBA and IBF super-lightweight titles on May 2 against Apinun Khongsong, of Thailand, at the Hydro, Glasgow, the venue for his four fights prior to beating Regis Prograis in London last October.
“I thought I would have been away to America but I am delighted that the fight is here,” Taylor said at a press conference in Glasgow on Wednesday. “I’m having a homecoming sort of fight to treat my friends and family to a home fight before going Stateside to chase the big fights.”
Taylor’s fight with Prograis, in the final of the World Boxing Super Series, filled the O2 Arena, but Taylor said that many of his Scottish fans could not be there.
“It’s good to be back home,” he said. “The last fight with Prograis was down in London, still in the UK, but a lot of people who would have liked to come and see me couldn’t afford the trip to London with hotels and tickets. It was an expensive weekend for a lot of people. It’s good to treat my loyal fans to another good fight.”
The 23-year-old Khongsong is largely unknown, having only boxed outside Thailand once and never outside Asia.
“I believe I am going to get the result and take care of business quite handily, but I have to remain focused and get the job done,” Taylor said. “He has had 16 fights with 13 knockouts and I don’t know much more than that.
“I saw a couple of fights on YouTube. He looks pretty tall and stands tall, but it is hard to judge the quality of the opponents he has been in with because there isn’t great footage.
“He looks like he carries a lot of power, to be honest, and punches correctly through the target. From the bits I have seen he has dropped all his opponents so he looks like he carries power. He will have my full attention and I must make sure I am switched on because if I don’t get this job done then that’s my dreams and ambitions shattered.”
“I still believe I would get to the top and unify all the belts, but if I didn’t come through this, it certainly puts that back.”
After 16 fights as a professional with Shane McGuigan in his corner, the 26-year-old is not sure who will be with him on fight night, having teamed up with Ben Davison, who could well be with Billy Joe Saunders in Las Vegas that night if a deal is finally agreed from the WBO super-middleweight champion to face Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
After trying out Davison, in Manchester, and Adam Booth, in Surrey, Taylor said he felt he had made the right decision.
“It wasn’t difficult at all,” Taylor said. “Before I spilt with the McGuigans, I was thinking about leaving for a long time. I kept seeing a lot of clips of [Davison) training with Billy Joe and Tyson [Fury]. The way he trained, the style of training, the tactics in the sparring and the padwork. The way Billy Joe boxes too, with his handspeed and footwork, he is southpaw as well, is similar style to me. I thought it would be the perfect combination.
“As soon as we teamed up and had a couple of sessions, my mind was made up right away.”