In less than three minutes on Saturday night, Edison “Pantera’ Miranda reminded the boxing world why he is the uncrowned middleweight champion of the world as he dispatched of tough Willie Gibbs in devastating fashion.

But now the Colombian bomber wants the hardware to go with his status as the people’s champion, and in 2007, the first man on his hit list is the fighter seen as the undisputed titlist at 160 pounds, Jermain Taylor.

“I definitely want Jermain Taylor as soon as possible and I hope he will be a true champion and fight me,” said Miranda. “He needs to stop fighting old men and junior middleweights and fight a true 160-pounder who is coming to fight, not just peck away at him and survive. I don’t come into fights looking for decisions; I come in looking for knockouts, and if Taylor truly wants to be respected as a champion, he needs to accept my challenge.”

As for the man whose jaw he broke in two places last September, IBF “champion” Arthur Abraham, Miranda (27-1, 24 KOs) pulled no punches.

“After the fight, I thought there was a stampede, but what I was actually hearing was Abraham and his team running even further away from me,” laughed Miranda. “I know he wants no part of me, but since I am his mandatory, he can’t run forever. I guarantee that there will be a list of excuses coming from his camp about why he can’t fight me immediately, but the fans know who the true fighters are in this division as well as the ones who hide behind their promoter’s apron strings.”

Needless to say, 2007 will be a big year for the pride of Colombia.

“Mark my words, I will get Taylor and Abraham in the ring next year and I will knock both of them out,” said Miranda. “And if they refuse to fight me, they’re cowards, because there is no bigger fight out there for either of them than me, and by the end of the year, I will have every championship belt around my waist.”

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