JOSH Taylor’s “spectacular” stoppage win over Miguel Vazquez on Saturday night will make the boxing world take notice, according to promoter Barry McGuigan.
The 26-year-old from Prestonpans extended his winning record to 11-0 with a ferocious body shot in the ninth round which rendered the experienced Mexican unable to beat the count.
It was the first time that the 30-year-old former world champion had been stopped in 45 fights and around 4000 fans raised the roof at the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh to acclaim the victory.
Taylor retained his WBC silver superlightweight title and manager McGuigan believes he made a “huge statement” with the win.
“It was a world-class performance against a guy who had never been stopped before. This kid, in his 11th fight, took him out,” said the former world champion. “It was pretty spectacular.
“We are left with a problem really; where do we go from here? Nevertheless it is a very nice problem to have.
“With the greatest of respect to the British title I think that is a step back for Josh Taylor and why would you take a step back when we are so close to big things?
“After that performance he is number six in the WBC, number 11 in the IBF. We haven’t canvassed the WBO and WBA yet but they will be looking at him after that performance.
“He wasn’t perfect but he had to show his robustness and toughness and it was a spectacular finish.
“Nobody had done that before to that guy – and that is a huge statement.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here