OTHER than his parents James and Diane, and partner Danielle, no-one has invested more time and money in Josh Taylor than the McGuigan family, writes Stewart Fisher. So it was entirely fitting that Barry and Shane, the Tartan Tornado’s manager and trainer respectively, should bask in the reflective glory of their man’s world title win against Ivan Baranchyk on Saturday night, which came in only his 15th professional bout. United in their insistence that he will soon prove once and for all that he is the best 140lb fighter on the planet, they recalled the initial conversations they had about attracting him to their Cyclone Promotions stable around the time of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.
“I’m absolutely thrilled, he’s a huge talent,” said Barry. “But this is where we all believed Josh would be going back to 2014. I was working for the BBC Five Live at the Commonwealth Games but I was really up to see Josh. I’d seen videos but seeing him in the flesh he was the star of the show. I thought: ‘I want to work with this kid’.
“Josh and Shane have a wonderful relationship and he’s evolved in to a fantastic boxer,” added Barry. “It was one of the best fights I’ve seen in a long time. To beat a thoroughbred like Baranchyk, and beat the fight out of him, was spectacular. I was cursing him a bit because he fought a bit too much, he could have made it much easier. His counter punching was spectacular and he is getting better, Regis Prograis is a great fighter but this is the best 140-pound fighter in the world.”
“I’m very proud,” said Shane. “Fifteen fights and he’s a world champion. We’ve been working together since 2015 and it feels like yesterday we sat down and had that discussion for him to turn pro. Personally it’s my third world champion but to see Josh being crowned in there is amazing, it’s all of hard work, sleepiness nights and getting frustrated with each other. It’s been an incredible journey but this is just the start. Maybe we didn’t expect him to do it this quickly but we always knew he had the ability to win world titles. He turned pro so late and achieved so much as an amateur but what a way to do it.
“He’s an elite fighter. I believe he is going to win this tournament and unify the division and I believe he is the best 140 pound fighter out there.”
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