Josh Taylor: I hope MGM Grand fight will be first of many

Taylor will contest his eighth professional bout at  the sport’s most prestigious venue on Saturday, January 28, as Cyclone Promotions  stablemate Carl Frampton makes the first defence of  his WBA world super  featherweight title against Mexican Leo Santa Cruz – an opponent he overcame to become a two-weight world champion in New York almost five months ago.

The Prestonpans star,  who claimed his first  pro-title with a fifth-round stoppage of Dave Ryan at Meadowbank in October, will find out in due course who he will face over ten rounds. However, the Scot confirmed he won’t be defending his Commonwealth super lightweight belt.

It will be the third time Taylor has fought in the US since teaming up with promoter Barry McGuigan 18 months ago but the 25-year-old says he hopes to be touching down in the state of Nevada a lot more often in the future.

“It really is the top stage of boxing as it’s where every fighter dreams of stepping into the ring,” Taylor said.

“I’m delighted so it’s another dream come true for me and I hope it’s just a taster of what’s to come. It’s going to be on Showtime over there which means I will be on  American TV so it’s really good to be building a solid foundation over there so early in my career. This will be my eighth fight and the third time I’ve fought in America. I’m really excited.”

Taylor is in the midst of preparing for the fight at his London base in Battersea. He will, however, be allowed some downtime with his family over Christmas and New Year before flying over to Las Vegas on January 2 – his 26th birthday.

“We’ve got a big house  to stay in when we get  out there which has its own gym, basketball court and a pool so it will like something out of Cribs!” he quipped. “But it will be full on training, just like it was in July when I trained and fought out in New York. My training has already started, I’ve been sparring and doing some pad work with Carl and I’ll be doing a lot of running – including on Christmas Day!”