BEHIND every great boxer stands a great trainer. Ben Davison has never tried to take any credit for Josh Taylor’s rise to become undisputed champion of the world but his nomination for trainer of the year for his work with the Scot - and several others including Devin Haney, Leigh Wood and Lee McGregor – tells its own story. This is a partnership of equals.

Defeating Jose Ramirez in May to become the first British boxer to claim all four world title belts in the one division was the undoubted highlight of Taylor’s career. It is one the self-styled Tartan Tornado will do well to surpass in the remainder of his career.

There will be bigger, more glamorous bouts ahead but, for now, all the focus is on the impending homecoming bout against Jack Catterall on February 26.

It is one of the quirks of boxing that a lifetime’s achievement can be wiped out by one knock-out blow, with Catterall eyeing the chance to claim all four belts that took Taylor years to acquire with a solitary swipe of his glove.

Terence Crawford and others are being mentioned as future opponents for the man from Prestonpans but for now Team Taylor are not looking any further ahead than their date with the Englishman.

“There’s a lot of talk about what Josh might do and who he might face in the future but we’re only focused on Jack at the moment: for us, life doesn’t exist beyond February 26,” said Davison.

“There’s an aspect of Catterall having been given a lottery ticket and that makes him more dangerous. That’s something I’ve mentioned frequently and purposely around Josh.

“He’s worked his whole life to collect those belts, one by one, whereas Jack Catterall has the chance to pick them up all at once. So it’s very important that we don’t allow him to take advantage of that situation.

“Every bout has the same importance to me, whether it’s a four-rounder or for a world championship. If you’re in a six-round fight it’s because that’s your level at that time and you’re not going to move up to eight, ten and 12 rounds unless you keep winning – I treat every fight as though it’s for an undisputed title.

“But this is a massive step up for Jack. I have all the respect in the world for him and his skillset and we’ll prepare for him as though he’s the best fighter that there’s ever been on this planet.

“However, the reality is that he hasn’t shown that he’s anywhere near this level. Even when he beat Ohara Davies on points, I didn’t feel that he rose to the occasion. Josh will definitely rise to the occasion on February 26 and, if Jack doesn’t, then it will be a very quick show if that’s the case.”

This bout was originally meant to have taken place on the 18th of this month, only for Taylor to push for a postponement after picking up an injury.

The super-lightweight still took the chance to travel to Las Vegas recently to make sure his training stayed on course, as Davison revealed.

“The postponement worked in our favour, if I’m honest. Yes, Josh had his knee injury but he also had a chest infection, which we hadn’t mentioned and pushing this back has given him time for that to clear up. He’s had rehab on his knee and, while it’s still not yet 100%, it’s getting there.

“We’re all in the game to be involved in big fights. I was working in Devin Haney’s corner and I believe that he has the potential to become the world’s No.1 pound-for-pound boxer. He’s only 23 at the moment and he’s already been a world champion for two years.

“While we were there, Josh was able to get some top quality rehab work on his knee and have a catch-up with the people at Top Rank. Plus he did some training as well: he could very easily have had the mindset that he had plenty of time to do that once he got back but Josh wanted to work, which also says a lot about him.”

While Taylor doesn’t get the recognition he feels he deserves in this country, especially south of the border, it is a different story in America following that win over Ramirez.

“We’ve been to Vegas a few times now,” added Davison. “Josh came with me when Billy Joe Saunders took on Canelo Alvarez and, while the unification fight with Ramirez went under the radar back home, it saw his profile shoot up massively in the States.

“I was struggling to get out of the door when I went anywhere with him! Even just walking around the casinos, everyone was going: ‘Josh! Josh! Josh!’ and that was good to see because it’s the kind of recognition he deserves.”