JOSH Taylor is on the cusp of fighting for a world title, according to his manager Barry McGuigan.
Taylor dismantled Winston Campos on Saturday to retain his WBC Silver super-lightweight title.
And he was praised for his performance by manager McGuigan, himself an ex-world champion.
After the fight, he said: “We’re very close to something very exciting.
“I told you at the beginning that he’s got so much ability and the light-welterweight division is red hot at the moment, but he’s the hottest thing in it.
“You’re looking at one of the best fighters this country has produced for a long time – he is very special.”
McGuigan was pleased to see his man sail through unscathed, adding: “It’s great to come through what was almost a world title eliminator without any injuries. He’ll take a couple of days off and get back in the gym with Shane [McGuigan, Barry’s son and Taylor’s trainer] and it’ll be on to the next one.”
Taylor’s trainer was similarly pleased, adding: “I thought he did everything perfectly. As soon as Josh landed that right hook early on he stayed hit and didn’t really recover. It was only a matter of time before he took him out.”
Cyclone Promotios founder Barry said previously that Taylor, 27, would contest a world title bout at some stage this year.
It seems he is just one fight away after his dismantling of Campos.
McGuigan added: “He’s a kick in the a*** off a world title fight and we’re really excited about how he handled that.
“He’s one of the best fighters not just in the super-lightweight division, he’s one of the best in any weight division that hasn’t fought for a [world] title.”
Cyclone Promotions will return to the SSE Hydro for a show on June 9 and McGuigan suggested Taylor could soon take on the winner of Saturday's bout between Jose Ramirez and Amir Imam for the vacant WBC world light-welterweight title.
He said: “Realistically we’re looking at Ramirez or Imam and we want to go down the WBC route but we’re not closing the door to any other organisation.
“I’m sure Mauricio [Sulaiman, president of WBC] and the boys will be looking at that performance and thinking ‘wow’.
“We’d be very lucky to get a world title fight [in June].
“We’re looking for another impressive performance and then after that I’d genuinely be thinking the next fight would be for the world title.”
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