All to often in modern boxing we are being asked to fork out more and more money for subscriptions to boxing platforms such as BT,Boxnation and sky sports as well as a growing number of PPV events on Sky box office or ITV PPV , boxing is becoming a very expensive sport to follow . This weekend will see the latest instalment of Cyclone Promotion and Channel5’s boxing adventure when one of th UKs top prospects Josh Taylor takes on Miguel Vazquez in what should be a great fight and a fantastic night of boxing available to all on freeTV .
What can we say about Josh Taylor that hasn’t already been said . Taylor had a very good ameatur career picking up a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and then took the gold when the Games came to Glasgow in 2014 . Barry McGuigan signed Josh as soon as he turned pro and is convinced that Taylor is heading for a world title , saying in September
‘I don’t want him to be waiting too long. I want to get him into a world title fight within a year.’
And after the Tartan Tornados last fight against Ohara Davies its very hard to argue with McGuigan. Taylor didn’t just outclass Davies , he broke his heart forcing the Englishman to quit . It is hard at this stage to pin point any flaws in Taylor’s style , his footwork is superb, the way in which he glides inside to land his shots and then gets out before anything can come back is fantastic to watch .Maybe you could say that against Davies , Taylor was maybe to keen to get involved in a tear up on the inside , which all the experts had warned against ……then again he took Davies to skool on the inside aswell as the outside . If we want to be hypercritical we could point to the fight in the MGM in Las Vegas where Taylor took on Mexican Alfonso Olvera . Taylor didn’t look his usual free flowing self , Olvera was having some success in spoiling , and that is what Vazquez will come to do ,it will be up to Josh Taylor to find a way to win and win with style in front of his home fans .
Miguel Vazquez is a very experienced fighter who has shared the ring with some of the best around , with the likes of Saul Canelo Aleverez and Timothy Bradley on his CV . As a former world champion with six successful title defences to his name ,Vazquez will be coming to Scotland demanding respect and looking to cause an upset . Anybody who has seen Vazquez fight would have noticed he does not fight like a Mexican , if you haven’t seen him and are hoping to see the style of Antonio Barrera or Juan Manuel Marquez , i am afraid you are going to be disappointed . Vazquez is a very good counterpuncher who will jab and move and look to work off anything coming his way from Taylor rather than force the fight . The Mexican uses the full ring very well , is fit and disciplined but With just the 15 KO’s from his 39 wins Vazquez doesn’t have that one punch power , and that will mean Taylor will be able to take more risks without the worry of being cleaned out .
Prdiction:
This is a fascinating matchup which could see the winner move into a great position to challenge for one of Terrance Crawford’s vacated titles . This fight does have potential to become a chess match as Vazquez will look to land single shots and disengage . The fight will be decided on how Josh Taylor closes the gap , as i have no doubt that once Taylor closes Vazquez down , he will land the bigger, better shots . I think that after a slow start Josh Taylor will work the Mexican out and open up a big lead on the cards , i cant see Taylor stopping Vazquez due to the cautious style of the Mexican but i do think after a tricky start Taylor win wide on the cards .
Steven Donnell
djayboxing 