Taylor One Win Away From Crack At The World Crown
Illawarra Mercury
Friday June 18, 2004
SHANNAN Taylor was scheduled to be in Queensland putting the finishing touches to his Pan Pacific junior middleweight title defence against Argentine Walter Crucce at Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast next Friday night.
Instead the ``Bulli Blaster" has spent much of his time at the hospital bedside of his ill father, Steve, who suffered a heart attack on Monday.
Taylor will now go to Queensland on Sunday after being in the corner for Wade ``Pit Bull" Clout's Australian junior middleweight title fight against champion Garry Comer at St Mary's Band Club tomorrow night.
The ``Bulli Blaster" is now No2 in the International Boxing Federation junior middleweight rankings and this bout against Crucce should be the final hurdle before a world title tilt later in the year.
``Come Monday after the fight we start negotiating with (IBF world champion) Verno Phillips," Taylor said yesterday.
``Basically win this fight, start negotiating for the world title, could be the next fight, try and bring it to Australia - hopefully bring it to Wollongong (WIN) Entertainment Centre.
``If not I'll got to America and bring home the title to Australia.
``With what happened with my father, I've been very, very focused in the gym because you realise that life's too short and like my dad said today at the hospital, `this is a second chance, go and grab it'."
Taylor, now 32, has never been more mentally at ease while physically he is at his peak.
``I feel like I'm 22. I feel better than ever but when I was young I was mad as a cut snake, I was crazy, put a mountain in front of me and I would try to move it. That's the way I was," he said.
``Now I somehow try and crawl around the mountain and get on the other side of it."
© 2004 Illawarra Mercury