BOXING Hall of Famer Barry McGuigan was “absolutely thrilled” with Josh Taylor’s win over ‘The Iceman’ Viktor Postol.
Taylor’s win by unanimous decision now sets up a world title fight and McGuigan, who runs the Cyclone Promotions stable of which Taylor is part, was delighted with the Prestonpans star.
At the post-fight press conference, the Northern Irishman said: “He’s beaten one of the best fighters in the world on a bad night.
“I’m absolutely over the moon at the way he handled himself.”
Postol was the aggressor in the early rounds but Taylor came back strongly and produced a wicked left hand in the 10th that floored the former world champion.
And McGuigan said he felt that could have been the end of the bout.
He said: “I thought he could have stopped him in the 10th round when he went down.
“I thought he was a hair’s breath from stopping him.
“He wobbled him again in the 11th and again in the 12th so it is a terrific result.”
The 57-year-old again heaped praise on Taylor, saying: “He’s only had 13 professional fights, don’t forget that. Everyone learns from their mistakes and he was doing that with punches firing over his head – that’s what you call real class.”
Taylor’s coach Shane McGuigan, Barry’s son, agreed with his dad’s assessment.
He said: “He has learned against a guy who’s dropped and stopped the best and has a fantastic pedigree.
“Postol nicked a few rounds early on but Josh came on so strong towards the end.
“Josh still looked a bit reckless at times and he was trying to force the fight a bit at times but these are things that he’ll learn from.”
His next step in that learning curve will be a world title fight.
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