Tag: Apinun Khongsong

Josh Taylor: ‘I wasn’t happy’ with former handlers

Taylor said that he was simply doing what was best for his career when he decided to leave Cyclone Promotions and his trainer.

Junior welterweight titleholder Josh Taylor wants to move on from his from his former promoter and trainer, let bygones be bygones. But not before slipping in the final word.

The Scotsman recently signed a new pact with American outfit Top Rank, which didn’t go over well with longtime handlers Barry McGuigan of Cyclone Promotions and his son and trainer Shane. The elder McGuigan hinted at a possible lawsuit against his former client, while Taylor insists he was free to leave and that he was transparent. 

Taylor (16-0 12 KOs) said in a recent interview that he regrets any hard feelings and that he was simply doing what was best for his career. With Top Rank, Taylor now has a major promotional force behind him and a clear line toward unifying junior welterweight titles against Jose Ramirez later this year. Also waiting in the wings at welterweight is a shot at Top Rank-promoted titleholder Terence Crawford.

At the same time, Taylor was quick to point out that he “just wasn’t happy” with Team McGuigan.

“There were a lot things behind the scenes that was going on that I wasn’t happy with for a long time,” Taylor told Boxing Social. “So I took it in my hands. I’m going to move management and promoter. … I’ve done that all the right way.”

Shane McGuigan recently expressed his disappointment in Taylor, saying “I’m annoyed that I’ve invested 4½ years of my time and energy in someone who just doesn’t deserve it.”

Taylor responded to his ex-trainer’s comments.

“I’m getting a lot of stick that I dumped Shane and all that,” Taylor continued. “He said he’s put in the time and the effort, and he has, but he’s been paid for that time and paid for that effort. It’s not as if he’s done that out of the goodness of his heart.

“[Shane McGuigan said] ‘You want loyalty? Buy a dog?’ I thought that comment was unfair. The whole time I was with him, I showed nothing but loyalty and commitment to them.”

Taylor added that he was particularly displeased with the way Shane McGuigan would leave him out of the loop when it came to training camps that involved the trainer’s other fighters, such as British lightweight contender Luke Campbell.

“They ran away to Miami before the (Ivan) Baranchyk fight, the whole team,” Taylor said. “They never asked me to go. You know, I’d love to have been over there. … Before the [Regis] Prograis fight, Luke had the fight in Philly and again they all went to Philly and never even asked me. Again, It was maybe 12 weeks out, but I could’ve been there in the background, staying out of everyone else’s way … and never even got to go. And they didn’t even have the decency to get me a gym key to get in — the (McGuigan) gym in London — so I had to go to other gyms to train. I just thought that was unfair.”

Still, Taylor expressed gratitude toward his former team.

“I just want to say thank you to them,” he said. “They got me great matches. Of course, I was thankful to them. I’d be an idiot or a spoiled brat if I wasn’t.”

Taylor is scheduled to face mandatory challenger Apinum Khongsong, in a bout that will be promoted by Khongsong’s promoter Sampson Lewkowicz. The date and place have yet to be determined.

Follow Sean Nam on Twitter at @seanpasbon

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Josh Taylor says he terminated contract with Cyclone over breaches

Josh Taylor thinking big, sets his sights on Terence Crawford

Sampson Boxing wins right to promote Josh Taylor’s mandatory title defense

Josh Taylor’s ex-trainer: ‘my heart sank’

Shane McGuigan has confirmed that he will no longer be training Josh Taylor, who recently signed with Top Rank.

Hard feelings are left in the wake of Josh Taylor’s jump to Top Rank in a split with promoter Barry McGuigan and his son, trainer Shane McGuigan.

Shane McGuigan says he could never continue to work Taylor’s corner because of the way the junior-welterweight champion left Cyclone Promotions, his father’s company.

“My dad matched him impeccably and built him up and I feel it is not right to do it that way,’’ Shane McGuigan told Boxing Social. “I would not continue to train somebody who has done that to someone so close to me.

“We had such a great thing going, lots of big wins and achievements. So, I felt it was not fair for that person to be cut out so myself and Josh will no longer be working together.”

Taylor, who signed with Top Rank on Jan. 9, has yet to decide on a new trainer. He is expected to make a mandatory title defense against Apinum Khongsong of Thailand within the next three months.

Shane McGuigan said he was stunned by Taylor’s deal with Top Rank, a move that put him closer to a fight for the undisputed 140-pound title against Jose Ramirez.

“It was a pretty big shock,’’ Shane said. “I did not see anything coming, and as soon as I heard it, my heart sank mainly because of the effort and time we had personally put in for Josh. We had managed and trained him impeccably, inside 16 fights he was unified world champion.

“If he had been a year into his career then fine, no problem. And if he had called me and talked to everyone and done it the right way, then that would have been fine. But not that way, after four-and-a-half years and all the achievements.’’

Jose Ramirez: First Viktor Postol, then the real prize – Josh Taylor

Jose Ramirez said that he wants a title-unification showdown with Josh Taylor to be his last fight at 140 pounds.

There’s no doubt about what awaits Jose Ramírez. First, however, he has to travel to China and measure where he is. How prepared he is. It’s long way to go to get what everybody around him thinks is so close.

A Ramírez bout with Josh Taylor was the story when Taylor signed with Top Rank on Jan 9. It was never a question. Just when.

But a date was already on the Ramírez itinerary. There’s a bout with Viktor Postol on ESPN for an opening bell that will sound at about the time alarm clocks go off on the resort island of Haikou in the early morning hours of Feb. 2. For an American audience, it’ll be prime time Feb. 1.

On Ramírez’s career clock, it’s serious business in any time zone.

It will put him within a fight or two of who — what — he has always wanted.

“Taylor is the fight I want, hopefully next,’’ Ramírez said Wednesday on a conference call.

Ramírez, who was scheduled to leave for China on Thursday, foresees the Taylor bout as his last fight at 140 pounds. Then, he says he plans to move up the scale to 147 against Terence Crawford, a welterweight champion and leading pound-for-pound contender.

Exactly when the Ramírez-Taylor fight might happen, however, hinges on some mandatory defenses attached to the belts held by both. Each hold two. Taylor is expected to make a mandatory defense against Apinun Khongsong of Thailand before he moves on to Ramírez. The timing of that one is still unclear.

Top Rank’s Bob Arum said there’s a chance Ramírez could also fight a mandatory. Arum also said an exception from further mandatory defenses could be granted, which would immediately set up Ramírez-Taylor for all of the meaningful belts

“We’ll see,’’ Arum said.

Meanwhile, Ramírez (25-0, 17 KOs) has a chance to test himself against Postol (31-2, 12 KOs), a former champion whose 33 fights include losses to Crawford and then Taylor, both by unanimous decision.

“This will give people an idea of where I am as a fighter,’’ said Ramirez, who added that he won’t use the Postol fight as a way to measure his chances against Taylor and/or Crawford. “I won’t focus on how I would do against Crawford or Taylor. I’ll focus on what I do.’’

Josh Taylor’s likely next opponent: Apinun Khongsong

Josh Taylor says that he has to take care of a mandatory challenger before he can pursue Jose Ramirez.

It’s a new deal and an ambitious agenda. But there’s some mandatory business on Josh Taylor’s schedule before he can move on to pursue the larger opportunities that were created by his new deal with Top Rank.

Before Jose Ramirez, there is Apinun Khongsong.

“I’ve got a mandatory I have to do,’’ Taylor told iFL TV.  “I believe it’s the guy from Thailand. I can’t pronounce his name. I need to get that out of the way.’’

The Ramirez bout can’t happen until later in the year anyway. Ramirez defends his two junior welterweight belts against Viktor Postol on Feb. 2 in China (Feb. 1 in the United States on ESPN.)

Taylor (16-0, 12 KOs) has the other two 140-pound belts. Khongsong, 23, is unbeaten (16-0, 13 KOs). All of his bouts have been in Asia. He signed a co-promotional deal with Sampson Lewkowicz on Thursday — the same day that Taylor’s multi-year deal with Top Rank was announced.

“I’m hoping it’ll be in Scotland,’’ Taylor said of the mandatory.  “I’m hoping I’ll have a defense in Scotland before then going State-side to chase the Ramirez fight.”