JOSH Taylor said he could sense fear in the eyes of Ohara Davies when he removed the Londoner's sunglasses during a tense head-to-head between the two men ahead of what promises to be an explosive title fight at the Braehead Arena next month. Titled 'Bad Blood', the bout on Saturday July 8 sees two of the most highly-rated young fighters in boxing clash, with Taylor's Commonwealth belt and Davies' WBC silver super lightweight title on the line, not to mention both men's unbeaten records.

Perhaps surprisingly, on this occasion most of the trash-talking at the pre-fight press conference came from Taylor, the Glasgow 2104 gold medalist and self-styled Pride of Prestonpans, who has knocked out eight of his nine pro opponents to date, with the usually controversial Davies - with 12 kos from his 15 bouts to date - keeping a surprisingly low profile. Perhaps, though, that owed more to the fact that for once it is Taylor's promoter Barry McGuigan and Channel 5 who are calling the shots, rather than Davies' Matchroom camp with Eddie Hearn and Sky Sports. With Ricky Burns - Davies' stablemate and sometimes sparring partner also an interested spectator yesterday - the jeopardy for both young men means it promises to be one of the fights of the summer.

"I knew he was going to downplay the situation," said the Scot, who also called his opponent a 'bell-end' after months of mutual goading on social media. "I think he has been told by his team and Sky Sports to play it down. But he can only hide his true colours for so long. You just need to look at his social media and you will see. The boy is an idiot at times with the things that he says. He is very disrespectful to people and people's families so that will come out.

"I took his sunglasses off and said 'look into my eyes'," he added. "And I could sense he looked a wee bit nervous, and a wee bit sheepish underneath them. So that is one up in the psychological battle for me but it is not about today, it is about July 8. It might go the full 12 rounds and just be a boring boxing match or it may be explosive and one of us gets knocked out. But it is not going to be me who gets knocked out."

Taylor feels that in fact his lengthy amateur career means he has the edge in experience and Davies is simply too slow to cope with his quick combinations and movement. "I genuinely believe that all his fights are one-paced," said Taylor. "He comes forward and when he goes for the punch he lunges in with everything, over-reaches and leaves himself wide open. Obviously he can punch, he is good at knocking people out, but he is very one-paced and I don't think he handles it very well when he is put under pressure."

This is Taylor's first-time headlining a show in the West of Scotland, part of a long-term ambition on behalf of promoter Barry McGuigan and trainer Shane to give his talents a wider Scottish audience. "I have said before that Ricky Burns is coming to the end of his career, but the support he has had, not just from Glasgow, or Edinburgh, but from the whole of Scotland has been brilliant," said Taylor. "That is something that I would like for myself - not just to have an Edinburgh fanbase, I want the whole of Scotland, nationwide, to get behind me and take the nation onto some massive fights."

Davies, whether you believed him or not, was playing everything down yesterday. "I'm a cool guy," he said. "That's me. I believe you live and you learn. I've been wild, I've said what I needed to say in my past fights. Now, it's just about going to the gym, enjoying camp, enjoying the fight night. It's just business for me."

**Tickets for 'Bad Blood' - Taylor v Davies at Braehead Arena are on sale now from www.braehead-arena.co.uk or 0844 499 1700