Ezra Taylor might not be at the point in his career where his trip to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this weekend could be called a scouting mission, but the unbeaten light heavyweight will be more than an interested observer when he watches four of the best light heavyweights on the planet in action on Saturday’s ‘The Last Crescendo’ card.

The 30 year-old from Nottingham has made rapid strides over the past 18 months and has positioned himself in amongst an ambitious group of British 175lb fighters. He has a busy first half of 2025 planned.

“It’s going very well. I’ve got a fight on March 10th, then I’ve got a homecoming on May 10th,” Taylor, 10-0 (7 KOs), said during Queensberry’s coverage of Wednesday’s open workouts.

“Big up Leigh Wood and I’ll be co-main event [to the super featherweight fight between Wood and Anthony Cacace]. I’ve got eyes on who I wanna fight for the titles etc. but, right now, I’m just going at my own pace.”

British and Commonwealth champion, Lewis Edmondson, 10-0 (3 KOs), is the man Taylor has in his sights for the May date but both have business to attend to before that fight can be seriously discussed.

Such is the depth of Saturday night’s card that an outstanding fight between two of Taylor’s domestic rivals, Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith, will kick off the main, televised portion of the show.

Although WBO interim champion, Buatsi remains unbeaten almost eight years into his professional career, there is a feeling that the 31 year-old’s best performances still lie ahead of him. 34 year-old Smith, has been relatively inactive over recent years but the former unified and Ring Magazine super middleweight champion still represents a significant step up in opposition for Buatsi.

Taylor believes that Buatsi will have enough to get the job done and move on to a long awaited title shot.

“I think it’s a great fight. I think its a 60-40 fight, the 60 being to Buatsi,” he said. “I say that based on the momentum he’s had. I think he’s been a bit more active. Callum Smith, I think is coming to the end of his saga - no disrespect intended - and I feel like Buatsi has just got a bit more to win. I think it’s a points win.”

Once Buatsi and Smith have settled who is the best in Britain, Taylor will sit back and enjoy the rematch between undisputed light heavyweight champion, Artur Beterbiev, and Dmitry Bivol. Although there does seem to be a groundswell of support for Bivol, Taylor believes Beterbiev will repeat the victory he scored last October and cement his position as the best 175lb fighter on the planet.

“I feel like Beterbiev is gonna do it again. I feel like now he’s got that confidence that he can do it over twelve rounds at that pace, I feel like it’s just gonna be an improvement from that performance. I want Bivol to win, I’m a Bivol fan. I’m also a Beterbiev fan and I’m a very realistic person as well. I just feel like he’s gonna have it in the bank.”