Josh Taylor has described flooring Manny Pacquiao's conqueror Yordenis Ugas in a sparring session, giving him the confidence to eventually fight in a higher division.
Undefeated Taylor will defend his undisputed super-lightweight championship against Jack Catterall on December 18, live on Sky Sports, as part of the new era with promoters Top Rank and BOXXER.
He had dreamed of facing his idol Pacquiao but the 42-year-old slipped to a surprise loss to Ugas last month and is considering his future inside the ring.
But Taylor is still willing to move up a division to challenge WBA champion Ugas and shared details of a sparring session, which sparked a heated response from the Cuban on social media.
"Yes. I believe in my own ability," Taylor told Sky Sports News.
"I have goals and targets and things I want to reach.
"I do a lot of visualisation and manifesting things.
"My longer-term goal is to become a two-weight world champion by winning a belt at welterweight.
"I can beat these guys.
"Ugas, we sparred in Vegas, and it went well. That's all I'll say. It went very, very well.
"I dropped him!
"If that fight came around? I've got more experience, I've been in big fights.
"This was at a time before I'd fought for titles.
"Now I've been in hard fights, big fights, for titles.
"I can beat these guys, I really do believe in my ability."
Taylor said about his next challenger Catterall: "He is a very tough test. He's 26-0, he has beaten everybody in front of him.
"There have been no questions asked. We haven't seen the best of Catterall yet.
"I've seen a few of his performances and they haven't been very impressive.
"That is because he hasn't the opponents to really fire him up. He will be fired up for this one.
"It's his chance to win all the belts and he will do everything in his power to make his dreams come true.
"It's my job to make sure he doesn't.
"No disrespect but I am better than him in every department - boxing ability, speed, timing, power, I can fight, I can box.
"I will have to prove that on December 18.
"He will have seen my fights and think he has seen holes in my game that he can exploit.
"I am super confident and it will take a special fighter to beat me."
The fight with Catterall will be Taylor's third alongside trainer Ben Davison.
Most recently Taylor brilliantly beat Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas with every super-lightweight belt at stake with Davison in his corner.
"I had extra months to get to know Ben [during lockdown], not just on the pads, but as a person," Taylor said. "It has turned into a friendship.
"He has added little nuances. In the last couple of fights I have neglected my boxing skills and my whole repertoire.
"He has brought those back to the surface.
"You have to do the fundamentals properly to allow you to do other things, the trickery.
"The way he reads a fight, the way he holds me back on the reins. Ben is very good at knowing when to let me go."
Sky Sports Boxing schedule
September 11
Oscar Valdez vs Robson Conceicao - WBC super-featherweight title
September 25 - Sky Sports Box Office
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk - IBF, WBA, WBO heavyweight titles
Lawrence Okolie vs Dilan Prasovic - WBO cruiserweight title
October 2
Chris Eubank Jr vs Sven Elbir
David Avanesyan vs Liam Taylor - European welterweight title
Richard Riakpohre vs Krzysztof Twardowski
Mikael Lawal vs Steven Ward
October 16
Savannah Marshall vs Lolita Muzeya - WBO middleweight title
Hughie Fury vs Christian Hammer
October 24
Jamel Herring vs Shakur Stevenson - WBO super-featherweight title
November 6
BOXXER tournament
December 18
Josh Taylor vs Jack Catterall - undisputed super-lightweight title