By Robert Segal: Josh Taylor has his eyes set on fighting the winner of the Errol Spence Jr vs. Terence Crawford fight after he defends his WBO light welterweight title this Saturday, June 10, against Teofimo Lopez.
Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs) says he wants to move up to 147 to try and become a two-weight world champion.
It could be a mistake for the 32-year-old former undisputed champion Taylor to overlook the threat that the dangerous puncher Teofimo (18-1, 13 KOs) presents.
Teos’ behavior appears disorganized, and some things sound delusional, but he’s still talented. Teofimo was thrown in with two difficult fighters, George Kambosos Jr and Sandor Martin. Those guys were bad-style match-ups for him.
Still, something is missing from the fighter that Teofimo was several years ago, but Taylor shouldn’t assume anything.
It doesn’t hurt that the money that Taylor would make fighting the Spence-Crawford winner would be immense compared to his past fights.
Unfortunately, it’s a long shot that Taylor will get the chance to take on either fighter, as they have a two-fight deal, and they’re both talking about moving up to 154 after their fights.
Taylor ready for Teofimo on Saturday
Max Kellerman: “You also have a very consistent offense. There’s a reason you get to be undefeated, undisputed of any division, whereas he seems to pot-shot at times, and you stay consistent. Is that something that we can expect?
Josh Taylor: “You’ll fight out on Saturday. I’ve been working on a lot of stuff with my coach. Working on a lot of new things and improving what I’m good at as well.
“We’ve been working on a real good game plan. We think we’ve got it down to the tee, and we think this fight could go early on Saturday. Obviously, we won’t be looking for it but without our style match-ups.
“This can be a real fight full of fireworks, and I’m the one with the bigger explosions.”
Taylor looked tired in the second half of his last fight against Jack Catterall in 2022. He still won the fight but it wasn’t the type of performance that we’d seen from him in against Jose Ramirez and Regis Prograis.
Some boxing fans believe that Taylor took much punishment in those fights, which left him vulnerable against Catterall. The version of Taylor that beat Ramirez and Prograis would have made easy work of Catterall.
Kellerman: “When this fight first got made, I was thinking, ‘Josh Taylor, the naturally bigger guy, the more consistent guy.’ Theen listening to Teo talk and you start to get into the promotion of the fight, and you start to consider both sides.
“How does Teo win? Well, if someone were to ask me, I would say, ‘Josh Taylor hasn’t been active recently. He had a very close fight last time against a guy that he was supposed to beat, and he’s been at 140 his entire career.’
“Usually, a guy as accomplished as you has moved up a division by now. How are you feeling at 140 right now? How much longer do you think you can stay in the division?”
Making 140 is no problem
Taylor: “I can be a career 140-pounder. I can do a full career at 140. I’ve had all these tests for my body composition. I’ve had all these tests done, and I can make the weight and make it safely.
“I believe I can make the weight well, I know I can. It’s good right now. I’m feeling awesome, and I’m back in the gym. My strength & conditioning guy and nutritionist. We’ve been doing really good work, and I feel I can stay at 140 for as long as I want for the rest of my career.
“In terms of achievement for myself, like you said, I’ve achieved everything at 140. There are no belts for me to win. So achievement-wise, it’s for me to move up to become a two-weight world champion at welterweight. That’s what I plan on doing as well.”
If Taylor leaves the 140-lb division now after his fight with Teofimo Lopez, he could miss out on massive-money bouts against these fighters:
- Ryan Garcia
- Devin Haney
- Gervonta Davis
- Shakur Stevenson
Kellerman: “Achievement-wise, maybe, but on the other hand, this is prize-fighting, and you are a professional. This is how you provide for your family.”
Taylor: “If there’s a big fight that comes along in this division. The division is heating back up. You’ve got the rematch with Regis Prograis and the rematch with Jack Catterall that’s a big fight now.
“You’ve got what’s his name [Devin Haney]. He’s moving up now. Ryan Garcia is coming up, and possibly Tank Davis as well. You’ve got all these big names. These guys are all big names and big blockbuster fights. They could be that I could be involved with myself.
Josh wants to move up to 147
“Yeah, absolutely, I’m open to all these big fights as well. Obviously, I have personal goals, and my personal goal is to become a two-weight world champion eventually.”
Kellerman: “So that means you’re eying the winner of Spence & Crawford?”
Taylor: “Potentially as a future opponent. Why not. I’ve always said that I would like to fight the best guys in the welterweight division, and these guys are the best. For me, Crawford is the best pound-for-pound person on the planet at the minute, and I would love to have the opportunity to share the ring with him at some point.”
Kellerman: “This is interesting to me. So you would rather, not even for a greater reward, to move up and fight the best guy that you feel is the best because you want to test yourself, where you stand, and what your legacy is going to be in history versus staying where you are fantastic fighters, as you mentioned, coming up from lightweight eventually.
“They would seem to be easier fights on paper, not because they’re a lesser quality opponent but because they’re smaller than Crawford and none of those guys are considered the pound-for-pound in the world. You would rather take the bigger risk fight?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvfNW55W3y4