SATURDAY could be a special night for Lee McGregor in more ways than one. The undefeated Edinburgh boxer (5-0-0) returns to the ring against Nicaraguan Cristian Narvaez for his first bout since winning the Commonwealth bantamweight title in October.
McGregor fights on the undercard of the World Boxing Super Series semi-finals where Josh Taylor, his former stablemate, will look to become IBF super-lightweight world champion by overcoming Ivan Baranchyk at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow.
Nobody will be happier than McGregor if that were to happen. The pair have been close friends for some time now and McGregor hopes to make swift work of his own fight and then take a seat ringside to see Taylor hopefully realise a lifelong dream.
“I’m absolutely buzzing for Saturday night and I’d feel the same way even if I wasn’t fighting,” he said, chatting effortlessly during a training run. “I’ve watched Josh work so hard to get to this stage and it’s going to be the biggest night of his life.
“He’s dreamt about this since he was a kid – we all do – and he’s now at that stage where it could come true. I’ve been really close to him over the last few years, even before I was his stablemate, and I’d be so happy if he becomes world champion. I’ll be throwing and taking every shot with him.”
McGregor wants that shot at glory for himself, too. Six years younger than Taylor at 22, he has time on his side but ambition and determination clearly course through him. He recently left Cyclone Promotions, the Barry McGuigan-run stable where Taylor still resides, for MTK Global and is now training with Grant Smith in Sheffield.
He is reluctant to delve too deeply into the reasons behind the switch but insists there is no ill feeling between him and the McGuigans. “I don’t really want to say anything bad about Cyclone who did a good job with me," he said. "They helped me become Commonwealth champion after five fights and raised my profile.
“It’s just business. I need to look after myself and my family and I feel going with MTK is going to help me achieve that. They have plans to take me to the top. I believe I’ll be challenging for world titles in the not-so-distant future.”
McGregor is just eager just to get back in the ring. “I’ve not had a fight since October but I’ve been ready for a long time,” he added. “Narvaez has had 35 fights and only been stopped once. So it will be a tough contest. But I’m champing at the bit to get going.”
Saturday will serve as a warm-up for McGregor ahead of his all-Scottish defence of his Commonwealth strap against Scott Allan at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow on June 22.
The pair were meant to fight last year only for Allan to fall ill and McGregor couldn’t resist an early pop at his opponent.
“I’m a man on a mission and he’s in my way,” he added. “Scott always has a lot to say and had the chance to back his words up last year and didn’t take it. I just hope he turns up this time.”
Victory over Allan will heighten the call for McGregor and Kash Farooq to meet later in the year, with the British champion set to claim his Lonsdale Belt outright with a third defence this summer.
“Hopefully if we both take care of what we have to do then there could be a massive Scottish showdown towards the end of the year,” added McGregor. “I reckon we could sell out just about any arena in Scotland. I’ll be ready for it whenever that happens.”
Outside the ring, Hearts-daft McGregor hopes to be at Hampden on May 25 to see if his side can cause an upset in the Scottish Cup final against Celtic.
“I’m not that confident but seeing how Celtic played against Rangers at the weekend got my hopes up a wee bit. So you never know. If Hearts win the cup and I get two big wins under my belt it will be a good few months.”
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