JOSH TAYLOR has spent the last few years snatching undefeated records with all the malevolent eagerness of the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Nobody could ever say the Scot has taken the easy route to becoming undisputed world champion. In gaining all four belts – and the Ring title – in the super-lightweight division, Taylor has taken on and defeated six opponents with a combined record beforehand of 136-1. You have to go all the way back to 2016 to find the last time the man from Prestonpans fought someone with a losing record, one of only two such occasions in 18 professional contests. He has never dodged anyone.

Next on the list is Jack Catterall (26-0) who this evening will become the sixth opponent in succession to put an unbeaten record on the line when he steps into the ring with Taylor at what ought to be a raucous Hydro Arena, the place packed to the gunnels with 13,000 partisan and noisy fans.

One of them will depart with the sour taste of failure on their lips and the champion is determined it won’t be him. The 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist has to go back to earlier that year to recall the last time it wasn’t him having his name read out at the end of a bout, a three-round points loss to Kazakhstan fighter Almasbek Aliebkov in Astana.

Even eight years later there is sufficient recollection of that feeling that day to know he never wants to experience it again.

“I’ve got a massive fear of getting beaten,” he admits. “That’s what keeps me sharp and on my toes. It gives me butterflies and keeps making me perform.

“I want to win. I’m a fiercely competitive person so everything I do I want to win at. I don’t want to get beat at anything and I’ve always been like that. I hated losing as a kid.

“Even playing snakes and ladders. If I got beat the whole thing would go up in the air! I just hate getting beat – letting myself down, letting everyone else down as well. The fans and everyone.

“But I’m really long in the tooth and calm under pressure. I’ve been in fights where rounds haven’t gone my way. I always turn it around and I don’t panic.

“I’m very cool, calm and collected in the ring. I know there might be times in the fight when it’s not all going my way. That’s fine, we’ve got a long time to be in there – there’s 36 minutes to work him out.”

Complacency could be Taylor’s greatest enemy this evening. Three of his last four contests have been 50:50 fights – he dispatched Thai hopeful Apinun Khongsong in one round – but he is the strong favourite to win here, with Catterall a massive 13/1 outsider with some bookmakers to orchestrate a shock.

The Scot has done well not to get drawn into too much chat about bigger fights ahead against the likes of Terence Crawford, knowing that switching off for even a second this evening could prove fatal to his future career ambitions – especially with no rematch clause in this contract.

“Jack hasn’t boxed any top level opposition but it doesn’t mean he can’t do it,” he added respectfully.

“I hadn’t been in with anyone like Viktor Postol before and I came up with the goods so it can happen. I’m not underestimating anyone. I know Jack’s a good fighter and a good class operator and he’s here to win and better his and his family’s life.

“He’s posing a big threat to me and my plans and me being able to provide for my future family as well. So it’s an important fight for me and him. He’s getting a chance to do it in a oner which makes me a little bit ticked off. I’ve cleared out the division, I’ve done it the hard way.

“I’ve come up and he will be my sixth consecutive unbeaten fighter. I’ve done it the hard way. I’ve beaten everybody and faced everybody and been in hard fights along the way. He’s getting to do it in one swoop. That makes me a little bit annoyed.”

Catterall took the potentially risky step of stepping aside from his mandatory bout with Jose Ramirez last year to allow Taylor the chance to win all four belts. The Englishman was in Las Vegas last May to see that happen and to ensure the Scot stuck true to his word to make him next in line. Now it’s his chance.

“A win would be massive, life-changing....and not just for me but my team and my family as well,” he admitted. “It’s 17 years since I first pulled the gloves on and it’s all been leading up to this point.”