Josh Taylor targets fight with USA superstar Terence Crawford

[Master]

Josh Taylor says he wants a fight with American Terence Crawford next after beating Jose Ramirez to unify the light-welterweight division.

The Scot knocked Ramirez down twice on the way to winning by unanimous decision at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas on Sunday morning.

And now he is prepared to move up to welterweight to fight Crawford.

"I think two undisputed champions going at it at 147 pounds would be awesome, would be amazing," said Taylor.

"I'm not going to be short of options now, every fight is going to be huge. We'll take it and see what comes my way, we'll just ride the wave."

Taylor is now Britain's first undisputed world champion in the four-belt era after an enthralling fight against Ramirez, which took his record to 18 wins from 18.

He recorded 114-112 scores on all judges' cards to become just the fifth man in the sport to hold all four belts in a weight division; retaining his IBF and WBA titles and adding the WBO and WBC belts to his haul.

Ramirez hit the deck in the sixth round, and was toppled again in the seventh, with referee Kenny Bayless accused by the Scot of "giving" Ramirez an extra few seconds to recover which helped him get through the round.

"This has been 15 years in the making of hard work and dedication," said the 30-year-old. "It's finally paid off.

"I'm just so determined and my will to win is second to none. I did everything right this week. In the lead-up the plan was to get inside Ramirez's head and use his aggression against him and it worked well all week.

"I think the referee gave him too much time, it should have been fight over. If I had a little more time, he was really flailing, I feel the count was longer than it should have been."

'Now is the time to fight in Edinburgh'

Edinburgh's Taylor has not fought in his hometown since November 2017, when he stopped Miguel Vasquez, and he says he would love to bring a big fight back to either Edinburgh Castle, or the home of his football heroes Hibernian.

"Now is the time to get that fight at Edinburgh Castle or Easter Road," he said. "I know Easter Road are going to be up for having me there and they've said it to me a few times.

"But I'd love to fight at Edinburgh Castle. I just think that would be iconic with the castle lit up in the background."

Taylor is Scotland's first undisputed world champion in 50 years, and he paid tribute to the last man to do it - fellow Edinburgh boxer Ken Buchanan.

"I did it just like you," he said. "I'll see you when I get home. Much love. He's a legend. You gave me so much inspiration to do it, and I'm just like you. See you soon, champ."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/57216405

[Master]

Josh Taylor next fight: Terence Crawford super-fight and Jack Catterall mandatory clash both ‘options’

The Scot could make one of the biggest fights in history or return to home soil after unifying the super-lightweight division

Josh Taylor struggled to fit all his belts around his shoulders after beating Jose Ramirez on Saturday night, and he will now have to cope with the weight of expectation too as he lines up another massive bout for his next fight.

Taylor became only fifth man in history to unify all four recognised global belts, following in the footsteps of Oleksandr Usyk, Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor and Terence Crawford.

And he mentioned the last of those when quizzed about his next move in the aftermath of his victory by unanimous decision in Las Vegas, suggesting he would move up to welterweight to fight Crawford.

“I think two undisputed champions going at it at 147 pounds would be awesome, would be amazing,” Taylor said.

“I’m not going to be short of options now, every fight is going to be huge. We’ll take it and see what comes my way, we’ll just ride the wave.”

Fighting Crawford would create political difficulties if he wanted to return to the super-lightweight division afterwards.

English fighter Jack Catterall, who has 26 professional wins and no defeats, is the mandatory challenger for the WBO belt that Ramirez had held since 2019 until he lost it to Taylor on Saturday.

“I stepped aside on the promise that I will get the winner and I am under no illusion because anything can happen, but ultimately I have allowed them to create this big undisputed title fight,” said Catterall, who was ringside in Las Vegas on a scouting mission.

“I have beaten everyone in front of me, done everything asked of me on my side.”

If Taylor were to move up to the 147-pound limit and fight Crawford, he would probably have to do it on the American’s terms as the B-side fighter, once against flying out to the States where he admitted he was “gutted” not to have his parents, friends and family ringside for the greatest achievement of his career to date.

A clash with Catterall though would clearly be made in Britain and perhaps on home soil in Edinburgh, where Taylor has not fought since November 2017.

“Now is the time to get that fight at Edinburgh Castle or Easter Road [home of Hibernian FC],” Taylor said.

“I know Easter Road are going to be up for having me there and they’ve said it to me a few times.

“But I’d love to fight at Edinburgh Castle. I just think that would be iconic with the castle lit up in the background.”

https://inews.co.uk/sport/boxing/jos...amirez-1015343

[Primo Carnera]

Both those posts are more or less the same.

[Master]

I think Josh should wait for Teo to come up and get some defences in then take on Crawford later.

[Kirkland Laing]

I would not be rushing to fight Crawford at all. If he can still make 140 easily I would stay right there. He's not going to knock Crawford out and judging by the cards from Saturday has no serious chance to outpoint him. I think Crawford has the edge in speed, sharpshooting, counterpunching, you name it. And before that fight happens there are a lot of hard nights in that division.

[Syntax Error]

No disrespect to Taylor who is an excellent fighter & worthy champion, but Crawford needs to be thinking bigger than him right now.

Crawford moved up to 147 because the division is smoking hot & there are some killers knocking about there.

To date, Crawford has failed to secure a fight against any of the big dogs at 147 & this is something he desperately needs to do.

A fight against the undisputed super lightweight champion is not something he should be entertaining, not at least until he's beaten at least one of the big dogs, otherwise there would have been little point in him ever moving up to welterweight.