The night after his 80th birthday, Dundee boxing legend Dick McTaggart will be a ringside guest of honour of Barry McGuigan at the home debut bill of Commonwealth gold medallist Josh Taylor.
McGuigan, a legend of the professional boxing game, is a long-time admirer of the Olympic champion who is still talked about as Britain’s greatest ever amateur.
Cyclone Promotions are putting on LIFT OFF, a night of championship boxing tomorrow at Edinburgh’s Meadowbank Arena.
Glasgow 2014 hero Taylor will headline the event when he takes on Hungarian champion Adam Mate.
Dundee’s former kick-boxing world champion Ronnie Clark takes on Belfast’s undefeated Anthony Cacace for the vacant Celtic Super Featherweight belt.
Also featuring on the undercard are a host of up and coming Scottish prospects, including unbeaten Fife middleweight Connor Law.
McGuigan is delighted that McTaggart has accepted his invitation.
He told Courier Sport: “We’ll have him ringside with us and it’s absolutely wonderful that he has agreed to come.
“Dick McTaggart is one of the all-time greats. When I was a young boxer starting out everybody talked about him. He was held in such high esteem.
“He had an amazing record and a beautiful boxing style. It will be great to see him on Friday.”
Although Taylor’s bout is the main event of the evening, McGuigan expects the Clark-Cacace contest to be the showstopper.
He explained: “We believe Cacace is a special talent but Ronnie genuinely believes he can beat him. I don’t agree with him but Ronnie’s got a great personality and is a decent fighter who is in with a chance.
“I’ve seen a few of his fights and it will be a proper test. I think this could be one of the small hall fights of the year.”
Friday night will be McGuigan’s first viewing of Law. The Northern Irishman can empathise with the Fifer’s frustrations at the end of his amateur career when he was controversially left out of the Commonwealth Games squad.
“When I got to the European Juniors as an amateur I fought a guy in the semi-finals who I beat from here to Aberdeen,” he recalled. “But they gave the decision to him.
“I was also robbed in the Olympics, so I know how he feels.
“Connor’s in the pro game now though, and you’re much more in control of your own destiny.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing Connor fight. This is my first chance to see him in the flesh. He’s got great potential and clearly has a fanbase already because his tickets have sold well.”
McGuigan believes Taylor and Law can be part of a new wave of exciting talent in Scotland.
And a future Cyclone Promotions bill in Dundee is a possibility.
“We definitely want to come back and it would be great if we could come to Dundee,” he said.
“I don’t know if I can ever remember a time when Scotland has had such strength in depth in professional boxing. That’s going back 35 years.
“I really believe that this is unprecedented and I want these kids to be successful.”