Josh Taylor: Everybody Will Want To Fight Me, The Target is On My Back Now

This past Saturday night in Las Vegas, Scotland’s Josh Taylor made history when he scored two knockdowns of Jose Ramirez to unify the WBO, IBF, WBA, WBC junior welterweight titles.

The victory allows him to become one of the few male fighters in the history of the sport to unify all of the major titles in he four belt era.

Taylor has several options for his next ring appearance, and he hopes to stage it at Easter Road or Edinburgh Castle.

“I haven’t hit my ceiling yet, I haven’t reached my full potential, I can make improvements, there are better performances to come. I can do better,” Taylor told Sky Sports.

“The target is on my back now. Everybody will want to fight me. What I’ve worked so hard for, people will want to take from me.”

Jack Catterall, his WBO mandatory challenger, would be a perfect option to be his homecoming opponent.

Catterall traveled to Las Vegas last week, to sit ringside as Taylor won his battle with Ramirez.

Their respective promoters, Frank Warren and Top Rank, have close ties. And the two boxers share the same manager in MTK Global.

“I would love my next fight to be in Scotland,” Taylor said. “I owe it to my fans. I’ve not fought at home since Miguel Vazquez [in 2017]. That was the last time I fought in my home city.

“It would be iconic – a once in a lifetime event. It’s got to happen and now is the time.”

After arriving back home to a hero’s welcome, Taylor plans to visit legendary Scottish boxer Ken Buchanan.

“The drive was to be like Ken, to be just as good as him,” he said.

“He gave me inspiration and motivation. To be mentioned in the same breath as him is an absolute honor.”