BY MIKE MASTOVICH
Andres Taylor is accustomed to making an impact with his hands.
Usually the Johnstown boxer relies on his right uppercut to demolish the opposition. But on Wednesday Taylor used his “right” to sign a contract with TKO Boxing Promotions of Las Vegas.
“This is a big step in my career,” WBF cruiserweight champion Taylor said during an afternoon news conference at the Holiday Inn downtown. “This is like being drafted into the NFL. Without a major promoter it’s hard to get into a (world) title fight. Now I’ve got a shot to get at a title fight. These guys are going to move me. They’re going to make sure I get the right fights. The payday is better, too.”
In 14 months, Taylor and his “Team TaylorMade” have used a blue-collar, grass-roots approach to efficiently advance his boxing career from the amateur ranks to an impressive professional run that includes an 8-0-1 record, four knockouts and high rankings in the United States (17th of 288 cruiserweights) and the world (70th of 866 cruiserweights).
Taylor has had two well-received events at his hometown Cambria County War Memorial Arena. He knocked out Philadelphia’s Simon Carr in the seventh round on May 2 in his most recent fight.
The local shows were well-run and entertaining, with a variety of hoopla outside the ring.
“There is a ton of work that goes into it,” Taylor said. “The first two shows, I had to take a month off of work. We had so many people helping us and trying to make this happen. You see the finished product and you’re thinking this is nice, this is easy. But it comes down to the smallest details like ordering the tickets and getting wristbands and making sure the lights are right. I’m glad to have TKO behind us to make sure this thing is bigger and better.”
TKO President and CEO Chet Koerner initially had no idea who Taylor was when a friend recommended that Koerner include the then-relatively unknown Johnstown boxer on the card during a show in York. Taylor made a lasting first impression.
“I had just signed a bunch of fighters and I didn’t know anything about him,” said Koerner, who traveled across the country to attend Wednesday’s news conference. “The next thing I know there are four or five busloads of people from Johnstown. That’s a long drive to York. I saw this kid, Andres Taylor. He looked like a rock star. He played the part. He’s a great fighter. From that second, I wanted him.
“He’s a triple threat. He’s a ticket-seller. He can fight. He’s a rock star.”
TKO will promote Taylor in the Steel Valley Rumble on Saturday at Youngstown, Ohio. Also on that card will be Taylor’s 14-year-old son, Tyler, who is 2-0 as an amateur boxer.
Koerner said there are plans for Andres Taylor to fight again at the War Memorial, possibly around the Thanksgiving holiday, although the ECHL Johnstown Chiefs’ schedule released on Wednesday has three home dates at the arena on the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday during that holiday week.
“The plan is to keep Andres very, very busy,” Koerner said. “We’re going to fight in Youngstown. We’re going to come back to York on Aug. 1, and then, hopefully, in the fall. We’re going to kind of use the Mike Tyson strategy and fight him every couple months and build his record up. Each time we fight him we’re going to move him along, increase the competition and step it up and eventually he’ll be ready for a world championship.”
