Josh Taylor owns all the world titles at junior welterweight, but he insists he is hungry for more as he targets the welterweight division after Saturday’s fight with Jack Catterall (5 p.m. ET on ESPN+).
Taylor, who is known as “The Tartan Tornado,” has been starved of home support since 2019 due to coronavirus restrictions, and is looking forward to his first fight in Scotland since he beat Ivan Baranchyk in Glasgow, to begin his reign as world champion.
Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs), 31, from Edinburgh, defends his WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO junior welterweight titles against fellow southpaw Catterall (26-0, 13 KOs), 28, from Chorley, Lancashire, after unifying the belts via a unanimous points win over Jose Ramirez, from California, in May.
To get a fight as big as the one versus Ramirez again, Taylor will have to step up a division which he plans to do providing he beats English challenger Catterall.
The welterweight division is packed with talent, such as pound-for-pound No. 1 and WBO champion Terence Crawford, WBC-IBF champion Errol Spence, Vergil Ortiz Jr., Jaron Ennis and Keith Thurman.
Taylor says the prospect of bigger fights beyond Catterall means he has not been lacking in motivation for Saturday even if it is not as prestigious as his last outing.
“It’s quite easy really [to stay motivated] because he’s coming to take what I’ve worked so hard to achieve and he’s got the chance to do it in one fight, hit the jackpot,” Taylor told ESPN.
“I’ve still got massive goals I want to achieve in the sport. I want to be at the top for as long as possible and I’ve got an abundance of desire to stay top dog in this weight division, but I feel I’ve achieved a lot at this weight division now and all that is left to do is defend the titles over and over.
“I want to achieve…
Source : espn
