JOSH Taylor is so close to a world title shot that his manager Barry McGuigan can almost taste it. The decision of US fight superstar Terence Crawford, an old adversary of Ricky Burns, to move up to welterweight after unifying all four belts last August means there are opportunities galore in this division for the Scot but the Irish fight legend knows only too well that now is a time to hold your nerve.
For now, the WBC, where Taylor is ranked fifth, and set to defend their Silver belt for a second time, still seems his likeliest route. While the Edinburgh fighter is giving seasoned Mexican veteran Humberto Soto his undivided attention at the SSE Hydro in March, all four fighters ahead of him in the rankings will be facing off. The No 1 and No 3, Amir Imam and Jose Carlos Ramirez, face off for the vacant WBC belt on March 17, with the victor of No 2 Regis Prograis and fourth-placed veteran Viktor Postol earlier in the month, obligated to take on the winner.
Assuming he impresses against Soto, though, Taylor will be next man up, so hopes are high that a world title shot could still arrive by the end of the year – if not earlier. Other openings could present themselves to take on IBF champion Sergey Lipinets or the WBO – where Terry Flanagan is fighting Maurice Hooker – but for McGuigan it is a fraught old business.
“All the governing bodies, they all have us up there,” said McGuigan. “But we believe he will be in the mandatory position if he beats Soto – because of his reputation with the WBC, when we rang in and said can we make this an eliminator the answer was absolutely, because of his respect and his reputation. He is the silver champion and he is defending it for a second time. It is a scary fight for me because we are so close.
“It [a world title fight] could even be his next fight if we can make enough money and appeal. [Sergey] Lipinets and Micky Garcia has been postponed so I don’t know how long that will be postponed on the IBF side. But we have the WBA side and the WBO side, the IBF and the WBC and he is there or thereabouts, we just need to keep him in that groove over the next four or six months. We are nearly there.
“But it is very difficult. It is hard to get guys to accept him as an opponent. You can pay them silly money and they will still say no. And it is very easy for a guy to go off the boil. You go along and everything is great and then two or three minor things flip you over the side. You are out with an injury or something, it is keeping all of that going. But he is in a very good space at the moment."
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