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Josh Taylor needs to complete the work George Kambosos Jr. began.
The WBO 140-pound titlist from Scotland will defend his belt towards Brooklyn’s Teofimo Lopez on June 10 at The Theater at Madison Sq. Backyard in New York Metropolis. The struggle has been pitched as a “make or break” second, as each fighters have appeared unimpressive of their final outings within the ring.
Taylor is coming off a extremely controversial win over Jack Catterall one 12 months in the past, and Lopez has appeared largely pedestrian ever since he was upset by Australia’s Kambosos of their light-weight unification struggle in 2021.
In an notorious second, Lopez was caught questioning himself on reside tv shortly after the conclusion of his 10-round, 140-pound contest with Spain’s Sandor Martin final December at Madison Sq. Backyard. Lopez received a break up determination.
Taylor is betting that he could make one other dent into Lopez’s confidence, going as far as to say he’ll retire the 25-year-old.
“That [loss] he acquired from Kambosos actually dented his confidence and his ego,” Taylor advised Brian Custer on The Final Stand Podcast. “His ego has taken an enormous hit. You possibly can see he’s a bit mentally fragile, anyway.
“Me, with this struggle, I plan on retiring this man. I plan on giving him that a lot of a beating that he doesn’t assume that he’s that man anymore. He’s already acquired them doubts, I’m gonna cement them and retire him.”
The southpaw Taylor made it clear he nonetheless respects Lopez lots as a fighter.
“Yeah, I simply can’t look forward to this struggle,” Taylor continued. “You realize, I simply assume that given his profile and his angle and what he’s achieved within the sport as effectively—He beat [three division champion Vasiliy] Lomachenko. He’s a really, excellent fighter. I used to be the fifth individual in historical past to change into the undisputed world champion within the four-belt period so I’ve acquired a number of accolades to my identify as effectively.
“He hasn’t appeared nice in his final couple of fights however I didn’t look nice in my final struggle both. He might say the identical factor about me. He is a superb fighter. I can’t say he isn’t. I’d be speaking nonsense if I mentioned he wasn’t an incredible fighter. Yeah, I feel he is a superb fighter.”
Lopez recently made headlines for criticizing ESPN commentators Andre Ward and Tim Bradley, whereas taking problem together with his promoter for seemingly giving preferential remedy to the Black fighters on their roster.
Sean Nam is the writer of the forthcoming guide Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.
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