BARRY MCGUIGAN admits that Josh Taylor’s dominant performance in stopping Miguel Vazquez to retain his WBC silver super lightweight title on Saturday night has left him with something of a dilemma. “Where do I take him next?” the Northern Irishman pondered.

Taylor’s progress since turning professional two years ago has been remarkable and in knocking out Vazquez, something that no other fighter has managed, the 26 year-old enhanced his reputation even further.

His performance has left McGuigan believing that a British title fight would now be a significant step down and so the former world champion must look overseas to ensure that he does not halt his fighter’s impressive upward trajectory. “He’s far better than anyone in this country right now ,” McGuigan said.

“He needs a bit of a rest but I don’t want him to be too far out - I’d like him back in the gym relatively soon because I’d like him to be back out fighting in February.

“Anthony Yigit is on our bill next month and is worth a look or he could take on another top 10 in the world guy from America. Or we could look at the WBC and look to fight for their title. It will be interesting to see what the other governing bodies do with him now though because he made a real statement out there.”

While McGuigan Senior can barely contain his excitement, his son, Shane McGuigan, who trains the Scot is somewhat more measured in his assessment of his charge’s victory against the Mexican, revealing that there were aspects of his performance which perhaps indicated a slight lack of experience. “I was getting frustrated with Josh because although he was winning, he was shaking his head between the rounds,” he said.

“I told him, opponents and, more importantly, judges, can pick up on body language. That was an important lesson he learned on Saturday. You need to be poker faced at this level - you need to show nothing.

“He has to make sure that he’s not giving away any chinks in the armour. He’s a fantastic talent and his performance the other night was phenomenal but he can’t show any frustration.

“Josh has got the lot but there are some things you can’t teach and there are things that you can’t experience until you’re out there. You can’t teach streetwise, but you can learn it.

“People will look at that performance and think, ‘wow, he can’t be beaten’, but others will see he got hit quite a lot. But there is no one he’s fought either in the ring or in sparring who doesn’t think that Josh is a serious talent.”

What McGuigan Jr believes is most encouraging about Taylor though is not necessarily his boxing ability, it is his attitude. The hype now surrounding the Scot could be overwhelming for some but Taylor lets it wash over him while remaining fully focused on his ultimate goal. “The good thing about Josh is he’s clever,” said McGuigan.

“Ninety percent of boxers hear they will be fighting for the world title in a year, they believe their own hype and it goes to their head. He comes into the gym and he knows he has to work - he knows he’s not the finished article. Josh doesn’t just want to be a world champion - he wants to be a legend.

“He won’t stop at the title, he wants to unify the division and go through the weights. He wants to be an icon in boxing.”