After his sensational boxing world title win Josh Taylor says he now hopes his next fight will be at home in front of his Scottish fans.
The 30-year-old Hibs supporter says he would love his next bout to be staged at Edinburgh Castle or his beloved team’s Easter Road after his win over Jose Ramirez meant he became the first British undisputed world champion in the sport’s four-belt era.
The Tartan Tornado said: “I’d love to go back home and take a big fight back to Scotland. Especially now.
“Now is the time to get that fight at Edinburgh Castle or Easter Road.
“I know Easter Road are going to be up for having me there and they’ve said it a few times so I’d love to have it at Easter Road.
“But I’d love to fight at Edinburgh Castle. I think that would just be iconic with the castle lit in the background.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted her congratulations after the fighter’s stunning victory in Las Vegas in the early hours of yesterday.
And Josh has promised to visit his hero, boxer Ken Buchanan, who was the nation’s last undisputed world champion, in 1971.
The 75-year old is in poor health and living in a care home, and an emotional Josh promised to visit him.
Sending a message to Buchanan after the fight, he said: “I met Kenny and he has given me little bits of advice on how to train and how to live life and how to dedicate myself to the sport.
“He saw me boxing a couple of times as an amateur and hitting the bags and sparring.
“He said that I could be world champion and I’ve proved him right.
“I’m just like him. I’m so proud that I can go back and see him when I go back home and say, ‘I’m just like you, champ’. I’m over the moon.
“Ken Buchanan, what an inspiration you have been to me since I was 18, 19 years old, since I walked through the doors at Lochend Boxing Club, with my coach Terry, who is here with me.
“I’m just like you, champ. I’ll see you soon, champ. You’re a legend. You gave me so much inspiration to do this.”
Josh’s road to success began in his home town of Prestonpans, East Lothian, where he lived with his council driver dad James and mum Diane, both 58, and went to Preston Lodge High School.
He was a taekwondo champion when he began training at Lochend Boxing Club, formerly a dilapidated scout hut, at just 15.
Josh trained as a mechanic before deciding an apprenticeship wasn’t for him.
He met his fiancee, hairdresser Danielle Murphy, 28, when they were teenagers in Prestonpans.
They bought their first house together in 2019 and he popped the question in December on a yacht in Dubai.
But Danielle, his parents and his sister were unable to travel to Vegas to watch his fight due to visa restrictions and had to watch the fight at home.
Last night, provost of East Lothian John McMillan spoke for a proud community.
He said: “To be crowned the undisputed world champion is a fantastic achievement for Josh Taylor, and one which reflects a massive amount of hard work, commitment and determination over the years.
“He has demonstrated a real will to win. I know that so many people, across East Lothian and further afield, were rooting for Josh. Huge congratulations on this historic achievement.”
Josh was a successful amateur fighter and struck Commonwealth gold at Glasgow 2014 as light-welterweight champion, before turning pro the following year.
He has won all of his fights since going professional. Guided by coach Terry McCormack, he became a world champion for the first time when he lifted the IBF super-
lightweight title with victory over Belarus’s Ivan Baranchyk in Glasgow in May 2019.
Josh is only the fifth man in the sport to hold all four belts in a division, achieving his victory just seven years after winning gold as an amateur at Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games.
His history-making win over Ramirez earned plaudits on both sides of the Atlantic. BBC Radio 5 Live boxing pundit Steve Bunce said: “It was a great fight. The pair of them showed fantastic skill.
“Ramirez showed amazing bravery and Taylor showed amazing accuracy. More than that we saw pride and desire for 36 minutes. It was a rollercoaster.
“It might not happen again. We might not be standing here in five or 10 years talking about a kid achieving what he has done in 18 fights.”
Boxing commentator Mike Costello said: “I mentioned it would be one of the great achievements by any British sportsman or woman in recent years.
“Having seen it tonight, I stand by what I said. The first British fighter in the four-belt era to become an undisputed champion.
“One of the great performances overseas by a British boxer.”
ESPN’s Nick Parkinson said: “At a time when YouTubers, novice boxers and retired legends in their 50s have become the major stories of the last year or so in boxing, at least from a mainstream perspective, occasions like Taylor-Ramirez are just the pick-me-up the sport needed.
“Two of boxing’s best operators, undefeated and competing for the highest stakes and then living up to the pre-fight hype. Boxing needs more fights like this.”
And American sports reporter Ben Baby said: “Taylor’s triumph is one the best performances by a British boxer ever on American soil, and will set up bigger, money-spinning fights for him.”
Boxing trainer Joe Gallagher said: “Josh Taylor, take a bow, son. What a career up until now. What a performance, an unbelievable achievement.
“What he has done tonight, he should be rewarded with all the awards at the end of this year.”
