Josh Taylor responds to Teofimo Lopez's threats to kill him in world title fight

Josh Taylor has brushed off threats from Teofimo Lopez after his rival made repeated references to ‘killing’ him inside the boxing ring.

32-year-old Taylor, who became the first Scottish fighter to be crowned undisputed world champion in 2021, puts his WBO super-lightweight title on the line against Lopez in New York on Saturday.

In April, the American made a vulgar boast about being able to legally get away with murder, telling Punch Drunk Boxing: “One thing is I love about my sport is I can kill a guy and get away with it, so it’s cool.’

Lopez, a former unified lightweight champion, made further controversial comments heading into fight week. ‘I said it like it is – I want to kill Josh Taylor,’ he said.

‘What the f**k does that mean? Well, let’s get back to boxing: that is boxing. You’re probably going to lose your life. What does that mean? This is what we sign up for. If I’m going to die in the ring, I went out like a champ. Boxing today is the gladiator days.’

He added: ‘Taylor ain’t got no heart so what can I take from this man? His life. And the only way I’m going to make a statement is by doing that, and I’m not sorry about that. How do I put fear in people’s eyes? Take a man’s life. I don’t care. This is the sport I’m in.’

Responding to those comments, Taylor has fired his own warning to Lopez.

“Come and try to take my life and let’s see who’s the one that ends up in the back of an ambulance. Let him come and try. We’ll see what happens.’

Referring to a recent Zoom interview he recently took part in alongside Lopez to promote the fight, Taylor concluded his rival is ‘a bit of a wreck’.

‘We did a live show a couple of weeks back called Trash Talk and I just think his head is all over the place,’ he said.

‘I don’t know what to take away from that. It can be dangerous or very good for me.

‘He seems to be all over the place, contradicting himself, making stupid and bold statements. The guy’s a bit of a wreck.’

Lopez produced a stunning victory over Vasiliy Lomachenko in November 2020 but suffered a shock defeat to lose the lightweight belts to George Kambosos Jr the following year.

The 25-year-old left the lightweight division behind to move up to 140lbs, securing a stoppage win over Pedro Campa before edging an extremely tight contest against Sandor Martin last December.

Taylor meanwhile is fighting for the first time since he controversial win over Jack Catterall having spent 15 months out of the ring.  

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