Taylor vs Postol Preview:
By Matthew Dean
Saturday night in Glasgow is a night for a shining young star of the future to dazzle brightly.
Josh Taylor (12-0) fights veteran Victor Postol (29-1) in a WBC world title eliminator.
Taylor is young, ambitious and brimming with confidence. He is masterfully managed by Barry McGuigan and trained by his son Shane, a winning combination so far. They understand and appreciate the abilities of their fighter and the talent he possesses.
Taylor is still learning the ropes at this stage of his career yet seems to have all the tools to go a long way in this game. He boxes maturely, picks his shots methodically and is like a shark in the water once he smells blood. 11 stoppages from 12, only once going the distance in an 8 rounder, 5 fights back. He has only boxed 47 rounds, never seeing the bell the other side of round 9 in comparison to his opponent’s 230+ rounds of action but has fought others on the same terms (Campos or Joubert stoppages in 3 & 6). His reach is shorter than his opponent but ask Vazquez or Ryan if that helped them, (stoppages rds 9 & 5 respectively)
Postol is a genuine step up in class. He’s a former WBC champ at super lightweight. That sole “1” recorded as a decision against Terence Crawford.
Postol has had 2 fights in as many years that inactivity may prove detrimental to his chances, sparring is one thing, but there is no substitute for the real thing.
There also aren’t many marquee names on the resume (the loss to Crawford, wins over Matthysse and Corley ) and he doesn’t carry huge firepower (12 stoppages) but he has nonetheless beaten all bar one man.
Postol has been around for 11 years in the pro game, so there isn’t much he hasn’t seen in a 39 fight career, experience is most certainly with Postol. He was dropped in his last outing against Jamshidbek Najmiddinov back in Sept 2017, but got up to decision him over 10 rounds
Taylor will be looking to take that vital next step and make himself more visible on the bigger stage.
PREDICTION:
My money would be that Taylor comes out hard and pushes Postol from the start, trying to set a pace the 34-year-old can’t match. Expect a decent fight but ring rust and work rate will be a key factor.
Taylor via early stoppage
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