Josh Taylor admits he is open to a showdown with Teofimo Lopez and believes he’d have too much for the American.
Lopez called out Taylor in the lead-up to his split decision victory over Sandor Martin in New York on Saturday.
The 25-year-old was forced to climb off the canvas in the second round before securing his second win at 140lbs after moving up in weight following defeat to George Kambosos Jr last November.
Former undisputed super lightweight champion, Taylor who holds the WBO belt after vacating the WBC, WBA ’super’ and IBF crowns, has accused his rival of overlooking Martin and believes his career-best victory over Vasiliy Lomachenko, which saw him become unified lightweight champion, was against a fighter who’s predominantly a featherweight.
“He is a very good, very skilled fighter, but I do believe that on my night I take him to bits,” the 31-year-old told Sky Sports News.
“He’s a bit of a clown. He seems to look past his opponents all the time. It’s twice he’s made the same mistake and almost paid the price for it again.
“His comments from beforehand… he seems to have the same reoccurring problem, he thinks he’s god’s gift, and then he comes crashing back down to Earth with a bang.
“I was confident of beating him anyway.
“Let’s not forget, he did very well to beat Lomachenko, but he beat a small, injured lightweight that really could make featherweight.
“You’ve got to give credit where it’s due, but he’s not in there with blown up featherweights anymore.”
‘The Tartan Tornado’ is set to defend his WBO belt in a rematch with Jack Catterall in the early part of 2023, after he rose off the floor himself before claiming a controversial split decision win in February.
The Scot, who has since hired Joe McNally as lead trainer after parting ways with Ben Davison, insists he is keen to face his promotional stablemate in the USA, with his historic, undisputed title win over Jose Ramirez staged in front of a limited crowd in Las Vegas last May, due to COVID-19 restrictions which were in place at the time.
The pair are promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc. and Lopez is the number one contender to Taylor’s sole world title.
“It would be great, it would be fantastic to have another big blockbuster night at home, but I would like to go back Stateside,” he added.
“The biggest fight I had in becoming undisputed world champion, if it had been in normal times I would have taken thousands over with me, been able to take my friends family and fans.
“I couldn’t do that, which was very frustrating, so I’d like to go back to the USA and do that again.”
