CONFUSION continued to reign last night over Josh Taylor’s hotly-anticipated IBF world title fight and World Boxing Super Series semi-final against Ivan Baranchyk at the SSE Hydro on May 18 when the Belarusian’s trainer Pedro Diaz confirmed that the Belarusian was busily preparing for the fight and his manager David McWater insisted once again that his man had withdrawn from the tournament.

With tickets for the bout yet to go on sale, speculation has been rife in the last few weeks about the viability of this fight, with Baranchyk’s camp said to be angered by late payment of win bonuses for his quarter final defeat of Sweden’s Anthony Yigit and unhappy about the Miami-based boxer being required to travel to Scotland for the defend his newly-acquired title.

WBSS supremo Kalle Sauerland has been adamant throughout that this isn’t the case, and it was a measure of their confidence in the event that they should issue a release yesterday, quoting an update on Baranchyk’s progress in sparring from his venerable trainer. In addition to working with many world champions in the pro ranks, Diaz has been part of the coaching staff for five Olympic Games – four with Cuba and one with the Dominican Republic. Regis Prograis takes on Baranchy;s countryman Kiryl Relikh in the other semi-final, with the date set for April 27 in the USA.

“The preparations are going really excellent,” said Diaz. “Baranchyk is a very dedicated athlete and he is going through a very good camp with good sparring partners. He loves what he does. He is never late, he never misses a training, he never parties. He always gives 100% in training and he wants to train harder and is constantly pushing himself. Some boxers are tired when the weekend comes, but not Baranchyk, he is unstoppable. His only focus is his training and his future.”

“Taylor is a great boxer, he is one of the best in the division, and he has a good team around him, but we are very confident and people will see why he is called ‘The Beast,” added

“We feel confident because of the dedication we see in the training. Baranchyk feels comfortable. We have different strategies, so there is always a plan b. What we can say is that we are not going for the KO, we always aim to win all 12 rounds, and we know Baranchyk can keep every round a very high pace. We feel very confident because of what we see every day in the gym. He is a true warrior and has everything to become a superstar.”

“We have adamantly told them we’re not in the tournament,” said McWater. “Out of respect for them we haven’t made any official statement. They went ahead and spoke to a trainer who isn’t involved on the business side. This was a bush-league move.”