SHANE McGUIGAN refused to train Josh Taylor after he axed legendary Irish fighter and his dad Barry as his manager. The McGuigan family run Cyclone Promotions, while Shane trains stars like Luke Campbell and Lawrence Okolie in a new Kent base. The team snapped the Scotland ace up after he won the 2014 Commonwealth games […]
SHANE McGUIGAN refused to train Josh Taylor after he axed legendary Irish fighter and his dad Barry as his manager.
The McGuigan family run Cyclone Promotions, while Shane trains stars like Luke Campbell and Lawrence Okolie in a new Kent base.
The team snapped the Scotland ace up after he won the 2014 Commonwealth games and guided him to unified super-lightweight glory in October 2019, inside just 16 fights.
But in December Taylor announced he had switched to US promoters Top Rank and management firm MTK and an ugly legal battle with Cyclone is expected to follow.
The 29-year-old southpaw was a big fan of Shane as a trainer but wanted to cut ties with Barry, who is also involved in another court case with Carl Frampton after he made a similar move.
But Shane revealed he could never continue the relationship with a man he feels did the dirty on his father.
He told Boxing Social: “Everyone knows I train fighters that are not always managed by my dad, George Groves and David Haye were not.
“But, with Josh, my dad signed him from the start and I feel he did an amazing job with him.
“I trained and helped but my dad matched him impeccably and built him up and I feel it is not right to do it that way.
“I would not continue to train somebody who has done that to someone so close to me.
“We had such a great thing going, lots of big wins and achievements so I felt it was not fair for that person to be cut out so myself and Josh will no longer be working together.”
The McGuigan family suffered a tragic loss last year when Barry’s 33-year-old daughter and Shane’s sister Danika lost her battle with cancer.
Shane fought through the personal pain to remain professional and serve his fighters, especially Campbell who faced Vasiliy Lomachenko just five weeks later.
And Shane is disappointed he dedicated precious time to someone he thought was a close friend.
The respected young trainer said: “It was a pretty big shock, I did not see anything coming and as soon as I heard it my heart sank mainly because of the effort and time we had personally put in for Josh.
“We had managed and trained him impeccably, inside 16 fights he was unified world champion.
“If he had been a year into his career then fine, no problem. And if he had called me and talked to everyone and done it the right way, then that would have been fine. But not that way, after four-and-a-half years and all the achievements.
“The whole family had suffered a personal loss, we have had a horrific time of late and I am annoyed I invested so much and energy into someone who does not deserve it.”
