Josh Taylor’s split from the McGuigans — “The hottest love has the coldest end.”

WITH the seemingly shock announcement that Scotland’s Josh Taylor has decamped from Cyclone Promotions — headed up by Barry McGuigan — and signed with Top Rank in the US and MTK Global as his new promoter and manager respectively, we are now looking at the prospect of him fighting for the undisputed super-lightweight title against Jose Ramirez sooner rather than later.

Ramirez currently holds the WBC and WBO titles at super lightweight, while Taylor has the WBA and IBF titles. Even more significantly, Ramirez is also a Top Rank fighter, which means that this is a fight that can now be made with the minimum of fuss and negotiation.

As for Taylor, the move to Bob Arum’s Top Rank places him on the verge of becoming a major star in the US — with his future fights featuring on the massive ESPN network. Certainly, his raw fan-friendly style will appeal to a US boxing public renowned for its preference for fighters who come to grind it out in the pocket. And Josh Taylor, to be sure, is a fighter who likes nothing more than grinding it out in the pocket.

I purposely wrote “seemingly shock announcement” in framing Taylor’s split from the McGuigans at the start of this column, because for those who know Josh it came as no surprise. Within his inner circle it was no secret that he hadn’t been happy for some time — something he told me in person when I ran into him at Lochend Boxing Club last week, where he’s been ticking over with his old amateur coach Terry McCormack.

The actual details of the split cannot be disclosed at this point for obvious reasons. But Josh shed some light on the matter himself in a number of tweets he posted in response to a public statement by Cyclone condemning his decision and criticising those they claim had encouraged him to “break his contract” with them.

“Whilst I acknowledge and appreciate the role that Cyclone has played in my career to date,” the Scottish world champion posted as part of his response, “three weeks ago I terminated my promotional agreement with Cyclone as a result of various breaches of contract including, in particular, breaches relating to a conflict of interest on the part of the promoter.”

Such acrimonious splits between fighters and promoters can only ever be ugly affairs. But with the McGuigans already embroiled in court action against Carl Frampton over his decision to leave Cyclone in 2017 — each party suing the other — the optics involved in embarking on another action against another former fighter would not be good, regardless of the legalities.

Meanwhile, in the interests of clearing things up, though Josh has formally split from Cyclone Promotions as his promoter and not from his trainer Shane McGuigan it is highly likely, if not already a done deal, that their partnership is likewise at an end. But even so, as Taylor readily confirms, Shane McGuigan’s credentials as an elite trainer are not in doubt, reflected in the way that he helped steer him to two world titles. 

As to who takes over training duties for Taylor next, a strong case can be made for either Ben Davison or Adam Booth if he decides to remain based in Britain, or perhaps Freddie Roach if he plumps for a move stateside.

Terry McCormack — who enjoys a bond of trust with Josh Taylor that has only deepened with time — told me that whatever he decides, it’s vital that he makes the right decision, moving as he now does into the most important stage of his career when it comes to earning potential. In this McCormack is spot on, what with the prospect of Josh cleaning house at 140 before moving up to 147 to face the likes of Terence Crawford in what would be a mammoth fight.

Whatever happens next in Taylor’s career, it certainly won’t be dull.

Conor McGregor vs Manny Pacquiao? 

It was on a Saturday afternoon in the mid-summer of 2000 that I first set eyes on Manny Pacquiao.

It was at Freddie Roach’s Wildcard Gym in Los Angeles, where I was just finishing off a workout on one of the floor-to-ceiling balls adjacent to the ring. The gym was busy but not packed, I recall, when the sudden eruption of this mad noise emanating from the ring brought everything to a shuddering halt — with everyone stopping what they were doing to look.

There he was, Manny Pacquiao, throwing punches and jumping around the ring like a grasshopper, all the while screaming his head off. He had the physique of a wet noodle and I watched him for half a minute or thereabouts before returning to my own workout with the thought: “Nah, he’s not going to make it.”

Despite his freakish speed, at the time, an unending procession of lightweights, flyweight and bantamweights from south of the border passed through Wildcard. You’d see them for a couple of weeks and then they’d be gone, having failed to impress Freddie enough for him to take them on as part of his then small-but-growing stable. Clearly, if not stupidly, I made the mistake of placing Manny Pacquiao — whom nobody then had heard of — in that category with them. 

Now here he is, 20 years later, rumoured to be lining up a fight against Irish UFC star Conor McGregor. Quite incredible to think that this Filipino ring-legend has not only been fighting for over two decades as a pro, but that he continues to do so at the highest level.

But it has to be said that “highest level,” when it comes to a future fight against McGregor, denotes pay-per-view hits and revenue generated more than it does quality. Or at least it does if the Irishman’s previous foray into boxing against Floyd Mayweather in 2017 is the benchmark.

That being said, McGregor has made a habit of proving naysayers wrong over recent years, which is why he’s such a huge star. Add to this the fact that, when it comes to hype and personality, the 31-year-old positively crackles with energy — then his return to the Octagon in Vegas tonight is guaranteed to garner a massive audience.

But just consider that, when I first saw Manny Pacquiao training at Wildcard all the way back in 2000, Conor McGregor was just 11 years old. 

Now there’s serious talk of them fighting one another.

Isn’t that mad?