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Philippines, 27 Apr 2024 |
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SPORTS SHORTS 135: JOSH TAYLOR WANTS TO FACE HIS IDOL MANNY PACQUIAO By Maloney L. Samaco PhilBoxing.com Fri, 21 May 2021  WBA, IBF junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor announced his dream of fighting his idol, eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao. * * * Taylor greatly admired Pacquiao that recently he got a tattoo in honor of his late dog who was named "PacMan", a name he gave to his pet after the Filipino boxing icon turned senator. * * * "Manny is a hero of mine so when we named the dog it came about naturally, I could never have dreamed back then of fighting him but I would still love to now, 100 percent," Taylor was quoted by The Sun. * * * But Taylor said he will be merciless in the event they would face in the ring. "As soon as that bell rang it would be down to business, even though he is an idol of mine and he isn’t as young as he used to be, he is still a dangerous top-level fighter so I would have to be ruthless." * * * Taylor is a recent addition to the growing number of fighters who wants to battle the 42-year-old Pacquiao, who has not fought since July 2019 when he won a backbreaking twelve round split decision over Keith Thurman. * * * This Saturday night in Las Vegas, Taylor will try to make history when he faces WBC, WBO champion Jose Ramirez in a four belt full division unification battle. * * * Should Taylor win, he would join a limited list of the few male fighters who were capable of unifying an entire division in the four belt era. They are: Oleksandr Usyk (cruiserweight) Bernard Hopkins (middleweight) Jermain Taylor (middleweight) Terence Crawford (light welterweight) * * * “It is good but I am not bothered about being touted as the greatest this or that. I am not bothered about being recognized. But I do see it as a little sense of achievement that a little guy from Prestonpans can force his way into that list," Taylor said. * * * "I try not to but I do sometimes look at those lists and think ‘wow’ just because of how far I have come in a short space of time. One day when I am safely retired I can say 'Jesus Christ, I was one of the top-ten best fighters on the planet'." * * * "But right now I’m just in the zone, I’m going to become the undisputed super lightweight champion and then I’m going to go up in weight and win a world title there." * * * Josh Taylor, age 30 years of Prestonpans, Scotland is a unified light-welterweight champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF, and Ring magazine titles since 2019. * * * Nicknamed "The Tartan Tornado", Taylor also held the Commonwealth light-welterweight title from 2016 to 2017. As an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. * * * The 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) southpaw fighter is undefeated in all his fights with 17 wins, 13 of them by knockout with a 76% knockout-to-win percentage. * * * Taylor is ranked as the world's best active light-welterweight by BoxRec and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the world's No. 9 best boxer, pound-for-pound, by The Ring. * * * Taylor started his professional career in 2015, by joining Barry McGuigan's Cyclone Promotions. Taylor made his debut in July 2015, defeating Archie Weah with a second round technical knockout (TKO). * * * Taylor won a unification bout against WBA (Super) light-welterweight champion Regis Prograis of New Orleans, Louisiana by majority decision in the final of the World Boxing Super Series at The O2 Arena in London on October 26, 2019. * * * "Two judges scored the fight 117–112 and 115–113 for Taylor while the third had it as a draw at 114–114. Taylor got the Muhammad Ali Trophy as the winner of the 2018-19 World Boxing Super Series – light-welterweight division together with the vacant Ring magazine title. * * * In his next fight, Taylor defended his titles against undefeated challenger Apinun Khongsong of Trang Province, Thailand. Taylor immediately went for the kill, flooring and stopping Khongsong in the first round with a thundering shot. The time of stoppage was 2:41. * * * Taylor is scheduled to face WBC and WBO champion José Ramírez of Avenal, California on Saturday, May 22, 2021, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada. The bout has the potential to become a Fight of the Year candidate. Taylor is a -275 favorite at BetMGM, while Ramirez is a +185 underdog. * * * LeBron James played an anemic first-half and was poked in the eye by Draymond Green while driving to the basket late in the fourth quarter. But he made a heroic long, go-ahead 3-point shot with 58.2 seconds remaining. * * * He lifted the Los Angeles Lakers to a 103-100 win over the visiting Golden State Warriors in a Western Conference play-in tournament game on Wednesday. * * * “After the finger to the eye, I was seeing three rims and shot at the middle one. By grace, I was able to knock it down,” said James as quoted by ESPN. He finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his sixth triple-double of the season. * * * Stephen Curry and Kawhi Leonard have won five NBA titles between themselves and 12 All-Star appearances but neither has played in an Olympics. Both Curry and Leonard expressed their intents to play for Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics. * * * If the 36-year-old LeBron James becomes a member of Team USA this summer then he will join Carmelo Anthony as the only players to participate in four Olympics for the country. * * * James is a three-time Olympic medallist. James got gold in 2008 and 2012, bronze in 2004 and a gold in Tokyo would let him tie Anthony's achievements of gold in 2008, 2012, 2016, and bronze in 2004. * * * If James, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul all play and the USA win the gold medal then the three will join Anthony as the only Americans to have won three Olympic golds. Durant won the gold in 2012 and 2016, while Paul won the gold in 2008 and 2012. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.  |
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