Josh Taylor swears quickly and furiously before his confrontation with Jack Catterall in Glasgow

The undisputed star will display the traits of his idol Valentino Rossi as he defends his light heavyweight belt for the first time

Loading video

Video not available

The video will automatically play soon8Cancel

Start playing

Khan and Brook face off before the cruel battle

Josh Taylor reckons the personality and performance traits he shares with sports idol Valentino Rossi will see him win over Jack Catterall on Saturday.

The undisputed lightweight champion finally faces fellow WBO rival Brit Catterall on the Top Rank Glasgow rankings after Taylor suffered a knee injury that caused the fight to end. pushed back compared to the first day of December.

Now both men are healthy and eager to move on, and Taylor is adamant that he will keep his WBO, WBA, IBF and WBC belts in his first defense of the whole series if he does. He showcased the kind of display Rossi would boast on his motorcycle during his racing golden age.

“He’s fast and furious but always in control and that 100% sounds like me,” Taylor said.

“I’m fast and furious but I’m very in control of what I’m doing, my emotions, and I’m disciplined.

“I may look fierce, mean and evil, but I have a lot of control over that.

“The big similarity between us is the will to win, our competitive nature and doing what it takes to make sure you get the right results.

“He worked and devoted himself to his sport.”

Taylor added: “I’ve been riding motorcycles all my life, my dad used to race them and I’ve been riding them since I was a little boy about four or five years old, fiddling with them.

“Motorcycles were my passion and my first love – growing up I watched World Superbikes and MotoGP, and Valentino Rossi exploded in the 250cc and 125cc classes.

“I love his charisma, his personality, he’s fan friendly and interesting, so that’s why he’s such a big role model for me.

“I’ve never met him but would love to have the chance – I’d love to cut someone’s arm off because of it.

“Just to talk to him about motorcycles and all that…

“He retired last year with a series of not-so-good results but he’s still at the top level in the world at 41, 42, competing with young players and being competitive, so it just shows the kind of mindset he has. . ”

Taylor became the first British boxer of the four-belt era to become undisputed champion last May, only Oleksandr Usyk, Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor and Terence Crawford to reach the global feat before he.

Since then, Saul Alvarez has joined the club.

Taylor added: “For me, extending my time with all these belts would make sense for the world.

“I don’t want to be beaten, I’m afraid to lose, I’m a natural winner.

“I compete in everything I do and everything I do is geared towards winning.

“I’m not here to give numbers, I’m here to win every time I step into the ring.

“Jack is a very good opponent, he does everything well and is very well-rounded.

“I rate him very highly.

“But I’m here to stay on top as long as I can in the sport.”