TERRY McCormack’s relationship with Josh Taylor is like a father and son. The Lochend boxing coach has been with Taylor since the earliest days of his boxing career and the bond between the two has only grown stronger as the years have gone by.

McCormack was with the raw 17-year-old as he learned the ropes after switching from taekwondo; he was with him when, as an amateur, he won silver and then gold at the Commonwealth Games; and despite the Prestonpans fighter turning professional and moving to London to train with Shane McGuigan, McCormack is still a constant presence.

Taylor takes on Miguel Vasquez for the WBC Silver super lightweight title at the Royal Highland Centre on the outskirts of Edinburgh on Saturday and McCormack will, once again, be in the 26-year-old’s corner, alongside McGuigan.

Vasquez is a seasoned pro – he has won 39 of his 44 fights and has held the IBF lightweight title – but McCormack is in no doubt as to what the outcome will be next weekend.

“I think Josh will win. I’m feeling very confident,” he said. “I know what Josh can bring to the table and I think that he’ll have too much on Saturday. Boxing ability, speed, strength, size, everything. The boy has pedigree but he’ll never have been up against anyone like Josh before.”

Taylor may have only had 10 professional fights but he has already made quite a name for himself, in particular with his impressive performance in defeating Englishman Ohara Davies in July. His rapid progression through the pro ranks is, though, exactly what McCormack expected.

“I knew he was a special talent – right from the minute he came into Lochend,” he said. “His work ethic and his dedication is remarkable. When we’re training and something isn’t coming off, he wants to go over and over it until he gets it right. He’s gifted with speed, he has power in both hands, he’s a switch hitter – he’s the full package. And he’s so driven to be a winner, he’s shown that since he was 17 years old.”

As with so many elite sports, it is the mental side of things that separate the great from the good and while Taylor’s boxing ability is world-class, it is his mentality that has elevated him above most others.

“Josh hates losing at anything – he’s a born winner,” McCormack said. “I’ve had thousands of boxers through the doors of my gym and every 10 or 15 years, someone with that mindset comes along. Alex Arthur was one, Paul Appleby was another and now Josh Taylor is the latest one; there’s no thought of losing in any of their minds. This is a sport like no other – it’s just you and the other guy in the ring and if you have one per cent of doubt and the other guy has no doubt, that one per cent will make the difference. I believe that every time Josh climbs through the ropes, he thinks he’s going to win.”

However, there was a time when Taylor’s perfectionist tendencies were holding him back and from the early days, McCormack knew that was the area he was going to have to work on if Taylor was to fulfill his potential.

“When I first met Josh, I knew he had all the tools to be a top-class boxer but his will to win was overpowering and it actually set him back,” said McCormack. “It took two or three years to settle him down and make him realise that he would have bad rounds and he would try things that wouldn’t come off in the ring. He had to learn to put that behind him and move on.”

It was a steady chipping away of that mindset that has made the difference but there was one moment in particular, when McCormack took some of his young boxers to renowned trainer Freddie Roach’s Wild Card gym in LA, that made a real impact on Taylor.

“Freddie is a good friend of mine and he’d let us stay in during sparring,” he said. “We were watching Manny Pacquiao sparring – at that point, he was the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Josh loved Pacquiao – he was so close, he was almost touching the ropes.

“Pacquiao had a bad round and I just tapped Josh on the shoulder and said: ‘Did you see that? What right

do you have to lose your head when he can lose rounds?’ He took that in.”

There has already been much talk of how far Taylor can go, with world title fights predicted to be coming the Scot’s way in the not-too-distant future. McCormack believes Taylor has the ability to win not just one world title though, he could potentially join his compatriot Ricky Burns in becoming a multi-weight world champion.

However, despite his rising star, according to McCormack, Taylor remains unchanged from the teenager who walked through his doors at the Lochend gym almost a decade ago.

“When he’s back in Edinburgh, he’ll walk back into the gym and he’s got the same banter and he has the same carry on with the guys. They’re still messing about like they’re teenagers, shadow boxing and punching each other’s arms, nothing has changed,” McCormack said. “He’ll also make an effort to come when the kids are in and when the ladies class is on, he’ll get his picture taken with them all. He’s exactly the same guy he’s always been.”