After the fall of Ricky Burns, Josh Taylor can become a new star for Scottish boxing

Josh Taylor

JOSH TAYLOR and Sam Maxwell will box in the first light-welterweight semi-final on Friday (August 1). Both have been in superb form over the course of this tournament and Glasgow has embraced Scotlandโ€™s Taylor. Josh enjoys a standing ovation every time he enters the arena. With the decline of former world champion Ricky Burnsโ€™ fortunes, Taylor wants to become the new star of Scottish boxing.

โ€œAnything can happen. I believe in myself. Iโ€™m going to be a world champion one day,โ€ said Taylor, who is rising to the occasion in this tournament.

โ€œAs youโ€™re coming out to the ring, the crowd does lift you a little bit, 10 per cent. But it would be the same if it was a crowd in England. It doesnโ€™t matter either way the crowd is [leaning], it lifts you, that noise and the atmosphere lifts you an extra 10 per cent.โ€

Taylor looked sharp and dangerous when he beat Zack Davies in the quarter-final but Maxwell also put in a class performance against Indiaโ€™s Manoj Kumar, normally a real handful. Former team captain and fellow Liverpudlian Thomas Stalker, now a pro, had beaten Kumar twice (incidentally heโ€™s also boxed both Taylor and Maxwell twice before too). Stalker gave Maxwell some advice on how to deal with the Indian. โ€œHe said as well hit him with a bit of your power, donโ€™t let him just push you back,โ€ Sam said. โ€œEvery now and then I started hitting him to the body, hard ones, just to stop him in his tracks and make him think before coming in. Keep it long and it paid off.

โ€œThis is the biggest thing in my career. Winning national titles is brilliant but on the international stage in front of millions of people watching at home, you canโ€™t get any better than that.โ€

Sam and Josh are both team-mates on the GB squad but their friendship will be set aside for the contest, which should begin at around 2.30pm on Friday.

Semi-finals running order

Afternoon session (beginning at 1pm)

Female: 51kgs:

Michaela Walsh (Northern Ireland) v Pinki Rani (India)

Nicola Adams (England) v Mandy Bujold (Canada)

Male: 52kgs:

Muhammad Waseem (Pakistan) v Abdul Omar (Ghana)

Reece McFadden (Scotland) v Andrew Moloney (Australia)

56kgs:

Michael Conlan (Northern Ireland) v Sean McGoldrick (Wales)

Qais Ashfaq (England) v Benson Njangiru (Kenya)

64kgs:

Josh Taylor (Scotland) v Sam Maxwell (England)

Sean Duffy (Northern Ireland) v Junias Jonas (Namibia)

81kgs:

Kennedy St. Pierre (Mauritius) v Nathan Thorley (Wales)

Sean McGlinchy (Northern Ireland) v David Nyika (New Zealand)

91&kgs:

Joe Joyce (England) v Mike Sekabembe (Uganda)

Efe Ajagba (Nigeria) v Joseph Goodall (Australia)

Evening session (beginning at 6.30pm)

Female: 60kgs:

Alanna Audley-Murphy (Northern Ireland) v Shelley Watts (Australia)

Laishram Devi (India) v Maria Machongua (Mozambique)

75kgs:

Ariane Fortin (Canada) v Lauren Price (Wales)

Savannah Marshall (England) v Edith Ogoke (Nigeria)

Male: 49kgs:

Ashley Williams (Wales) v Devendro Laishram (India)

Paddy Barnes (Northern Ireland) v Fazil Kaggwa (Uganda)

60kgs:

Joe Cordina (Wales) v Charlie Flynn (Scotland)

Michael Alexander (Trinidad and Tobago) v Joe Fitzpatrick (Northern Ireland)

69kgs:

Tulani Mbenge (South Africa) v Scott Fitzgerald (England)

Mandeep Jangra (India) v Steven Donnelly (Northern Ireland)

75kgs:

Vijender Singh (India) v Connor Coyle (Northern Ireland)

Antony Fowler (England) v Benny Muziyo (Zambia)

91kgs:

Samir El-Mais (Canada) v Efetobor Apochi (Nigeria)

Stephen Lavelle (Scotland) v David Light

To read the full account of the preliminary stages of the Commonwealth Games donโ€™t miss this weekโ€™s issue of Boxing News

Share Page