JOSH Taylor thanked Viktor Postol for flying in and out of Glasgow on the day to help promote what promises to be a Scottish super-fight on June 23 at the SSE Hydro – then blanked him when the two fighters went face-to-face for the first time.

As respectfully as the festivities were observed at the Grosvenor Hotel in Glasgow’s West End on Monday – a far cry from the trash talking which marked the Scot’s meeting with Ohara Davies – the 27-year-old from Prestonpans knows he doesn’t want to treat this storied 34-year-old Wladimir Klitschko lookalike from Ukraine with too much respect.

A final eliminator between the No.1 and No.2 contenders in the WBC Super Lightweight division, a money-spinning world title shot – most likely in the States against Jose Ramirez – awaits, a potential avenue to follow his inspiration Ken Buchanan on to the world stage. This is serious business alright.

“I respect him for coming over but when we did the face-to-face I looked straight through him,” said Taylor. “But at the end of the day I want to do a number on him and knock him out so I gave him the eye. I would have stood and stared him at all day. That’s the wee mental thing – now he knows how much I want to win and become a world champion. He wants his belt back and I know I’m in for a hard night but that’s all the motivation I need.

“I don’t think it was about mind games,” he added. “We just put the friendliness aside for a moment or two. It was a case of saying ‘right, it’s on and I’ll see you on June 23’. He understood and was trying to give it back to me.”

As promoters go, Barry McGuigan isn’t exactly the risk-averse type, because Taylor is staring hard at the toughest challenge in his young career. The Commonwealth gold medallist from Glasgow 2014 has just 12 professional fights to his name, 11 of them settled by way of knockout, many of them in the early rounds. That puts him at a clear disadvantage in terms of experience against his 34-year-old opponent, a former World Champion who has lost just one of his 30 professional fights to date.

And even that doesn’t go down as too much of a blemish, considering it came against Terence Crawford. The American, rated as one of the very best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, unified the belts at super lightweight before moving up a few months back.

Taylor, the WBC silver champion, doesn’t subscribe to the theory that this fight has come too soon for him. “It’s a massive fight for me but I think it’s coming at the right time,” said Taylor. “I’m entering my physical prime years at 27, getting my man’s strength now, filling out and getting stronger. If I win this hopefully I can be involved in some massive fights in the future.”

A fight of this magnitude deserves a major audience. While the SSE Hydro was packed to the rafters when Taylor took Commonwealth gold in Glasgow 2014, it is a venue which takes some filling, and uptake was significantly slower on Taylor’s only pro visit there thus far, admittedly on the week when the “Beast from the East” caused wintry havoc on the roads, and he was pitched in against a late stand-in opponent in the form of Winston Campos.

Besides say Easter Road, the 27-year-old has already outgrown the boxing venues in his home city, but he is approaching genuine crossover status. Any Scottish fans who haven’t bought into the hype should do so soon or they might just miss out. The era of Buchanan and Jim Watt was marked by the East-West rivalry but all of Scotland can get behind Taylor. “It would be nice if there was a suitable venue, being my home city,” said Taylor. “When we did the weigh-in before the [Miguel] Vasquez fight in Prestonpans the place was jumping and that makes it a bit better. There would be even more support in Edinburgh as it’s where I’m from and it’s not so far to travel.

“But the fans all over Scotland are passionate and I am becoming more recognised in the west,” he added. “I am being welcomed in. People in passing cars are shouting my name so I am getting great support in Glasgow. It’s a bit different nowadays with social media than it was in Ken Buchanan’s time, for example. You can let people know where you are every minute of the day if you wish and that helps get the support up. At the Commonwealth Games the Hydro was full and it was a tremendous atmosphere so hopefully we’ll get at least 5000.”

Both men claim to have seen only little of their opponents on tape, but Taylor is determined to be the best he can be. “I’ve stepped up my training this time, to as much as three times a day, to make sure it’s the best of me.”