JOSH TAYLOR: TEOFIMO LOPEZ WANTS TO KILL ME BUT I WILL RETIRE HIM IN HIS OWN BACKYARD

Josh Taylor: Teofimo Lopez wants to kill me but I will retire him in his own backyard

Scotsman Taylor is on a mission to emulate the late, great Ken Buchanan by winning at Madison Square Garden.

Josh Taylor is no stranger to a factious pre-fight atmosphere but the Scotsman’s experience for the most important fight of his career has been more than attritional because his opponent wants to kill him.

From accusations of “gym spying” to countless statements of wanting to end Taylor’s life, Brooklyn-based Teofimo Lopez has not held back ahead of their WBO light-welterweight title bout at Madison Square Garden in the Big Apple on Saturday night.

But despite the back and forths over microphones following endless weeks of trash talk, Taylor is on a mission to make the American “pay for his words” inside the ring.

“It’s a legacy moment for me fighting here in New York,” 32-year-old Taylor told Telegraph Sport yesterday, looking razor sharp in workouts, extremely lean physically, and ready for battle. Taylor will need to be at his best as he breaks a 16-month absence from the ring after defending his belts in a controversial fight last year against Jack Catterall.

But the biggest - and ugliest - talking point all week has been Lopez shooting from the hip that he wants “to kill” Taylor in the ring. “I said it like it is... I want to kill Josh Taylor,” Lopez said in a podcast interview last month. Nor was it the first time he had said it, either. In a link-up by video between the pair for a television programme ‘Trash Talk’ a week earlier, in which I had been involved as an interviewer, Lopez had clearly said he wanted to end Taylor’s life."

 "At Thursday’s news conference, Lopez was at it again. “People are like, ‘get back to boxing.’ Well... that is boxing. This is what we sign up for,” said Lopez. Firstly quoting former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, Lopez then reiterated his references to life-ending damage. “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face, shoutout to Mike Tyson,” said Lopez. “I have a quote of my own - I just made it up yesterday. It says, ‘Aim for death, for that’s where life begins.’”

Taylor looked bemused, and simply replied “no comment” at the news conference. Speaking with Telegraph Sport, Taylor outlined his views on the distasteful comments. “All this talk does for me is give me more fire in my belly, more desire to give him a real doing, a real pasting and really hurt him. I feel I’m going to knock him out or retire him.

“It really motivates me to put some pain on him and punish him for what he’s been saying. I really don’t need motivation for this fight, but with him saying things like that, it gives you that little bit extra. He’s going to pay for those words.”

Taylor has an alter-ego himself - a character known as ‘Hank’ - who materialises just days before he steps into the ring and who homes in with vitriol on his rival. ‘Hank’ emerged briefly at the news conference. Taylor exchanged words with Lopez as they prepared for the face-off photo opportunity, but Taylor found himself held back by a New York City police officer who had been drafted in to maintain decorum during the proceedings.

“Look, I would not have put my hands on Lopez because I wouldn’t want a 500 grand fine,” explained Taylor. “But I got close enough to see his eyes and that there are nerves in him. I’m relishing the first bell now, and putting an end to all the talk.”

- Gareth A. Davies