Josh Taylor has left the door open for a potential Scottish super-fight between himself and Ricky Burns after his bout with O’Hara Davies tomorrow night at Braehead.

The Prestonpans fighter is in supremely confident mood ahead of his clash with the outspoken Londoner, and his full focus is on making the man known as ‘Two Tanks’ eat his increasingly provocative words when the two finally come face-to-face in their aptly-title ‘Bad Blood’ encounter.

But Taylor is a man who believes he is destined for the top of the fight game, and he admits that if he were to take on Burns, a fighter he has huge respect for, it would be a massive occasion for all of Scottish boxing and beyond.

“I know Ricky well and he was here today as well,” Taylor said. “He obviously trains beside O’Hara and I think he’ll be supporting him too. That’s irrelevant, it’s not about Ricky Burns, it’s about me and O’Hara.

“Maybe after the fight though there will be that huge Scottish fight. It would be massive for the Scottish fans having me versus Ricky. You never know.

“All I’m thinking about right now is the fight on Saturday, but it would be so massive for Scotland to have that fight.

“I think that’s a fight that I would really like in the future, but first I have to concentrate on this one here. It’s the biggest fight of my career.”

Taylor’s manager, Barry McGuigan, stated at a public workout on Wednesday that he believes Taylor will eventually assume the mantle of three-weight world champion Burns as Scotland’s top boxing draw, and while Taylor admits the notion is one that has entered the back of his mind, beating Davies is firmly at the forefront of his thoughts.

“I want to eventually become world champion and be the best I can be,” he said. “If I can inherit some of the support that Ricky has had over the years then that would be awesome, because the backing that Ricky has had over the years has been brilliant.

“I want the whole nation to be behind me and it would be brilliant to carry that flag, but that’s not what is at the forefront of my mind. My priority is to become world champion, and if I am to go on and become a multiple world champion then even better.

“My will to win is second to none, that’s why I train as hard as I do every day. I’ve done the hard work in the gym, I’ve done the miles out on the road, I’ve worked on sprints at the track, done the hard circuits and sparring has gone really well too. I’ve been really smooth.

“I know that I’ve done all of the hard work, and that’s what makes me so relaxed and confident going into this fight.”

To describe the barbed rhetoric that has been flying about ahead of this fight as a war of words may be something of a stretch, given that the term implies there have been at least two participants involved in the mud-slinging.

In fact, the vast majority of the bating has come from the corner of Davies, who has even taken the time to aim his verbal slights at members of Taylor’s family.

It is perhaps of little surprise then that Taylor is anxious to finally get into the ring, and into an arena where he is confident that he will be the one to seize the initiative.

“It’s time to get down to business,” he said. “Most of the talking has been on O’Hara’s behalf, not from me, and it’s him who will have to back up his words.

“It’s part of his act and his bravado in front of the cameras, but if he tries to say that stuff to my face and is personal, then that’s different and my fighting instinct will come out.

“I can’t wait to go in there and put on a dominant display and come out victorious. It’s a massively important fight for me. The risk is definitely worth the reward. It’s very early on in my career, but to have had only 10 fights and to be WBC silver champion, have a world ranking and pushing on the door of having huge world title fights would be awesome, so it’s huge and it’s definitely worth whatever risk there is.”

Taking question at Metropolitan in Glasgow’s Merchant City yesterday, Taylor was warmed by feelings of nostalgia as he returned to the venue of his last visit to the city, when he was basking in the glory of wining the Commonwealth Games gold medal just hours earlier at the Hydro.

“It’s great to be fighting again in Glasgow, and the last time I was here was actually in this place on the day after the Commonwealth Games final,” he said.

“They had me doing interviews outside of here on big podiums with Irn-Bru and all of that, so it’s bringing back a flood of memories just being here.

“Glasgow was brilliant to me in 2014, even though I’m from the east, that doesn’t matter. The whole of Scotland got behind me and I’m loving that they are doing it again.

“This time it’s an even bigger stage for me personally, and I can’t wait to show the Glasgow fans what I’m about again.”