JOSH Taylor fended off the compliment from his promoter as effortlessly as if it were a jab from his opponent. Barry McGuigan has just predicted the 25-year-old from Prestonpans will be the next Carl Frampton and as chuffed as the Scot is by such chatter, he knows he must do his own talking in the ring.
Having said that, it does help when you get to spend copious amounts of time learning from the man himself. Not only does Taylor have McGuigan and his sons Shane and Jake in his corner, his time between fights is often spent training and living in Battersea with the man who became Northern Ireland's first two-weight world champion when he outpointed the previously undefeated Leo Santa Cruz at the Barclays Centre in New York last month.
The respect between the fighters is clearly mutual. While Frampton, now rated in the top ten pound-for-pound fighters in the world, has previously said Taylor is better technically than he is and last night called Taylor "a world champion in the making", the Scot simply sits and watches, storing up the priceless hints and tips which could in time make that prediction become a reality.
"It is a huge compliment," said Taylor, when asked about McGuigan's claim. "But I take it all in my stride - I don't take too much from it. I am confident in my own ability, but having Carl in the gym and seeing how he is doing drives me on. I want to be there one day.
"When we are in camp, we are all in camp at the same time, all training, living together," he added. "It is great to be around a world champion and learn from what he does, what he eats, how he trains, how he lives. His discipline is an eye opener, even though I am very disciplined myself. It just gives me that knowledge of what you have to do to get to the top."
Meadowbank will be rocking when Taylor takes on veteran Englishman Dave 'Rocky' Ryan on October 21 for the vacant Commonwealth super lightweight title. The Scot, a real student of the sport, evoked the heyday of Alex Arthur, whom he recalls watching as he fought at this arena ten times between 2003 and 2012. Most famously, perhaps, in defeat against Michael Gomez.
"I used to go to all the Alex Arthur fights," said Taylor. "I used to watch him in training when I was a wee laddie on holidays from school. The noise his fights used to make in that hall was unbelievable. The following he had was brilliant and if I can bring the interest in boxing back to Edinburgh then I will be a happy fighter. That is what I am hoping to do with his fight here. Hopefully it is the first of many.
"The Michael Gomez fight was brilliant, I want to be involved in fights like that, but obviously I want to be involved in fights with the right outcome," he added. "That was a great fight and I hope this one can live up to that, with me having my arm raised at the end of it."
While Taylor is correct to back himself to be celebrating at the end of this one, subjecting the Scot to a 12-round contest could go down as a calculated risk, considering he has just six previous pro fights on his resume. Having won all six by knockout before the third round, that means a grand total of nine rounds, even if Taylor had imagined he would have more miles on the clock by now.
Ryan has some respectable scalps on his resume, including a victory against current British champion Tyrone Nurse, and on yesterday's evidence at least, fancies his chances. The Englishman's first attempt to regain the title he lost to John Wayne Hibbert last September - due to an illegal kidney punch which forced him to retire with back spasms - was cancelled minutes before the ring walk when his Namibian opponent Martin Haiklali was found to have a fresh wound on his arm.
"It’s a massive step up, the first proper fight that I’ve been involved in but I’m 100 per cent confident I can do the job," said the 2014 Commonwealth champion. "If I wasn’t, I would have said to Jake or my team that I don’t feel I’m ready. I’ve never looked for a stoppage or a knock out, I just go and box."
And what is fighting in front of 4,000 people for a Commonwealth belt when you have already competed for a gold medal in front of 10,000 at a sell-out Hydro? "They were brilliant, it just gives you that extra 10%. You think 'there is no way I am getting beaten here'."
**Tickets go on sale from 10am today, Thursday 25th August and are available from www.ticketmaster.co.uk or telephone 0844 844 0444.
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