Shane McGuigan will keep plan for Adam Azim away from the ears of a certain promoter

Adam Azim’s trainer, Shane McGuigan, believes Azim can be as good as his former fighter and undisputed junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor.

McGuigan was in Taylor’s corner for the majority of his professional career, helping the Scot win the World Boxing Super Series and unify the IBF and WBA junior welterweight titles. Taylor then left McGuigan to join Ben Davison and became undisputed champion against Jose Ramirez. 

Azim is McGuigan’s newest 140lbs prodigy and has taken well to life as a professional, winning the European title in just his 10th fight. McGuigan has high hopes for his young fighter and believes he could reach the level of his former boxer, Taylor.

“Josh Taylor was an undisputed world champion,” McGuigan told BoxingScene. “I wouldn’t have wasted my time training him if I didn’t believe he could do that, and I think it’s very much the same with Adam Azim. I like to train guys who I believe can beat anyone in the division and become the best fighters on the planet – Adam Azim has got that capability.”

Azim will step up this Saturday and takes on the experienced Ohara Davies at the Copper Box Arena in London. This won’t be the first time McGuigan has been in the opposing corner against Davies after he led Taylor to a stoppage victory back in 2017. McGuigan is wary of the potential banana skin that is Davies, but believes Azim has beaten better fighters. 

“There is an element of risk to most fights,” McGuigan said. “We took a guy called Aram Faniian before the European title, that was a banana skin, could [Faniian] have beaten Ohara Davies? Probably. I think he’d beat a lot of good guys, and I think he’s a very good fighter Faniian. And Ohara Davies is, what he lacks in technique, he makes up for in awkwardness, power, range, and timing.

“It’s a completely different fight than against someone who might be a bit more schooled. You need to be able to adapt to a multitude of styles. Josh Taylor, for instance, boxed fantastic against Ohara Davies, but he struggled to figure out Miguel Vasquez. That’s just because styles make fights, this is a risk, but a calculated risk in my opinion. I think it’s going to make him look sensational.

 “I think [Azim stops Davies],” he continued. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if he hits Ohara and Ohara goes more into survival mode. You don’t get to world honors if you’re not a good all-round fighter. I would hope that he stops him but there’s multiple things that can happen in that ring and the most important thing is he walks away with the win.”

 Victory over Davies, who has boxed in and around world level, will put Azim up there with some of the big names in the division. McGuigan, however, is in no rush for his fighter to be given a title shot and insists he will be given the right fights at the right time.

 “I think it’s jammed up there [at the top],” he said. “He is 22, does he need to fight for a world title in a year? He wants to. Politics is politics, it’s strong at the top of boxing. But there are multiple fights out there for him. Whether they’re former world champions or guys that are unbeaten at the same stage of their career.

 “I think the most important thing is to continue to keep him active, keep him busy, get him in with guys that have either been world champions or fought for world titles and given a good account of themselves. And that’s just gaining more and more experience. Obviously, there’s a big domestic rivalry against Dalton Smith and potentially a fight against Jack Catterall as well. There are some good names in the division at 140 and he wants to beat everybody. He doesn’t just want to nick a world title and then sail away.

“He wants to fight everybody, so that’s important,” McGuigan continued. “But it’s my job, looking after his career, to make sure that we sort of harness that belief and sort of let it go out slowly and match him at the right times.

 “There are three or four names that we’ll make for a fight after this, but if I do tell you a little man called Edward Hearn will get on the phone and try and offer them other fights, try and sabotage our opponents. So for now, I’ll keep hush.”