Josh Taylor Dismisses Idea of Facing Terence Crawford
When undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh “The Tartan Tornado” Taylor (18-0, 13 KO’s) first beat Jose Carlos Ramirez to claim the titles, he openly speculated about moving up in weight. As the newly crowned king of the division, Taylor felt as if his biggest fights and challenges waited for him above his head at welterweight. More specifically, the UK bruiser had designs on testing his skill with WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (38-0, 29 KO’s).
For the time being however, the Tartan Tornado has his hands full with another boxer. This is because on February 26, Taylor is slated to go head-to-head with Jack “El Gato” Catterall (26-0, 13 KO’s). The two were initially supposed to dance on December 18, but Taylor had to withdraw due to injury. Yet, the Tartan Tornado was never looking to evade Catterall. El Gato had graciously stepped aside so that the undisputed bout with Ramirez could be staged in the first place.
CHANGE IN PLANS
With so many moving parts swinging around Taylor, as he explained to IFL TV, just doesn’t think that a bout with Crawford is realistic right now.
“I’ve done all this talk over in America and I was saying it’s down the line. Terence Crawford has his own things going on. He wants to unify at welterweight. He wants the Spence fight and all that stuff, so forget about it; there is no way. That’s not happening anytime soon. So, forget asking me about that, it’s not happening.
I’ve got Jack to take care of. He’s hungry as ever, and I am hungry as ever! Beat him and achieve more greatness and he is standing in the way of it, so I need to take care of Jack first. So, forget about whatever happens after this. Its only Jack Catterall and that’s what’s happening.”
While some may find it somewhat of let down that Taylor is not doggedly pursuing the fight at the moment, his rationale is sound. So, for the time being, let’s see how the Taylor versus Catterall dustup plays out, then we can see who Crawford signs up to face next in the squared-circle.
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By: Bakari Simpson
