Josh Taylor can see clearly now.
His marked right eye which was the result of real boxing, not too much make-up in a Rocky film, has opened back up again allowing him to see properly. The swelling has gone down, the celebratory high carries on and now the Scot has the eyes of the boxing world on him after his victory in a titanic super-lightweight battle against Regis Prograis on Saturday night.
Taylor, the IBF and now WBA and RING magazine belt holder, as well as the proud owner of the World Boxing Super Series Muhammad Ali trophy is glad that a bigger audience got the opportunity to see what he was capable of in what was has been widely recognised as one of, if not the fight of the year so far.
Speaking to Boxing Scene last night, back home in Edinburgh, Taylor said: “It’s good that especially over the pond they are going to notice me now. I’m going to have a following over there. It’s amazing. It’s great. I’ve put Scotland back on the map. People are now going to give me the recognition I deserve. I’ve always believed in my own ability.”
That ability, depending on your opinion, now has him as the number one fighter at 140lbs or firmly number two behind WBC and WBO champion Jose Ramirez. The belts, the fights, the stats all amount to a 28-year-old who is now unbeaten in just 16 fights (with 12 KOs) with the world at his feet.
Thousands of words have already been written about the edge of the seat thriller that played out inside London’s O2 Area in front of a five-figure crowd. Superlatives-a-plenty, plaudits handed out in droves and rightly so. And Taylor is thrilled to not only have played his part in it, but with his own performance too.
“I watched the fight back for the first time tonight down at my Ma’s house and I thought it was brilliant. I thought I performed great. I thought I was definitely the winner. I’ve watched it back and thought I boxed great. I could’ve got the jab going a wee bit more, used my foot work a bit more but I did what I needed to do and hit him with the bigger and better shots. Definitely the right winner and definitely the right decision.”
As pleased as he is with his own display, the fight and the result, Taylor is not overly thrilled with the commentary and scoring from Sky Sports - who covered the fight in the U.K - on the night.
“I was pissed off with the commentary,” Taylor said, annoyed by the mixed TV scoring from Sky’s commentators and their colleagues ringside.
“They [Sky] were really biased towards him [Prograis] in the first couple of rounds. They had me well behind in the first half of the fight. I thought I won the first couple of rounds! I thought he got 3, 4, 5 and then me round 6 right through to 11. And then the 12th I gave to him but you could have argued it for either one of us. That’s how I scored it and I thought they were really biased towards him just because he was moving about and just because he was moving his head. I was landing the bigger shots and hitting him inside, out working him inside. I got the right result. But I was like ‘What were they watching? Watching a different fight to me.’ I had me winning it. It was close but I was the clear winner.”
Prior to the fight one argument for a Prograis victory was the power of the slick 30-year-old, from New Orleans, who seemed to be punching holes in the 140lbs division, prior to the Taylor fight, even hurting durable ex-world champions such as Terry Flanagan. Was the talk of his power all hype or was it justified?
“I think it was a wee bit hyped,” the champion answered.
“He definitely had heavy hands. He was heavy handed but it’s not nothing I’ve not had before. I wasn’t shocked, I wasn’t fazed by it. I wouldn’t have fought the way that I fought, up close and personal, if I was fazed by his power. There was no surprises but I’ll give him his due, he was heavy handed. Nothing that I was shocked by though.”
And Taylor agreed, to a degree, that his 12-round tests against Viktor Postol and his IBF world title win against Ivan Baranchyk stood him in good stead on the night.
“I think so. Even if I hadn’t had those tests I still would’ve dug in deep and won the fight but I definitely think they played a wee part in it. Having that experience, I didn’t panic. I knew I could do the pace. I knew I could fight at whatever pace he wanted or if I wanted to fight at a faster pace I could have. I definitely think that experience did help.”
Experience helped on the night but sometimes there are some things that can’t prepare a fighter for in the lead-up to a fight. Injuries, postponements, call-offs are frustrating, sure, but the death of a loved one could, understandably, derail all the hard work put into the biggest fight of their life. For Taylor this was something he had to overcome when, last month, deep into training camp he received the news that Danielle, his girlfriend, had lost her father, James Murphy, at the age of 47. This coming just two months after Taylor’s trainer Shane McGuigan lost his sister, Nika, to a short illness at just 33. Post-fight McGuigan told Sky Sports that he and Taylor had pulled each other through during their times of loss.
“Emotionally it was really hard,” Taylor said.
“I couldn’t grieve with my girlfriend. I couldn’t really be there for her properly. I was on the phone asking her how she was. She started getting emotional and crying and I kinda was making excuses saying, ‘I need to train now’ and deliberately try and not get too connected and block it out. Obviously coming away from the phone I was crying. It was hard to block it out. As soon as I got that hand raised the emotion came out because he (Jimmy as Taylor called him) totally helped me through that fight, especially in those last three rounds when I couldn’t see. I was blind. All I was thinking was ‘Do it for him, do it for him’. There was no way he (Prograis) was beating me.”
Taylor and his partner now move forward together, hopefully stronger and plan to take a break from everything that boxing and life has thrown at them lately. A trip to a family gathering in Ireland before a holiday for just the two of them preparing both for a move into a new house and a busy few months ahead.
“We’re gonna chill out before getting the house furnished and things like that,” he said.
And then before everyone knows it, we will be into 2020 where fans of Josh Taylor will be wondering who and where he fights next. Ramirez is the prime target. The Scot wants all the belts.
“I want to chase the Ramirez fight. I’d love to get that fight. I’ve got a lot of options out there and it’s whatever I want to do. The ball’s in my court now.”
Twitter @shaunrbrown
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