Boxing: Now is the hour of Anthony Taylor

Tauranga boxer Anthony Taylor is a man on a mission. Photo/Supplied

The next few months will be crucial in the professional boxing career of Tauranga's Anthony Taylor.

The 26-year-old has some solid fights lined up as he continues to make progress up the list of New Zealand welterweight fighters.

His next bout is against former world kickboxing champion Ben Sisam on July 12 in Auckland, which will be another indicator of his standing.

He fought in March against Richie Campbell and knocked him out in four rounds, before beating Daniel Maxwell over six rounds in a unanimous points decision.

"I have had a good build-up to the fight and came out with good outcomes from the last two fights," Taylor said.

He is approaching the bout with Sisam as if it was a title fight.

"I need to get the wins under my belt to get further ahead really. Every fight is important. I know he has had some fights in Aussie and they are normally tough opponents so he will be coming to fight."

Taylor is trained by Gunnar Jackson's mentor Chris Walker at Tga BOX Health and Fitness.

"Anthony is a light welterweight but has gone up a division to welterweight because there are more guys to fight in that division," said Walker.

"He is ranked by BoxRec as the No 1 welterweight in New Zealand but the title is vacant so we are looking to have a crack at that later on in the year or early next year.

"He started boxing with me pretty much the same time as Gunnar but he has had a couple of stops and starts. He is a good kid actually. He proved himself as an amateur and went to the last Commonwealth Games. He is starting to make a few waves in the pro scene and has won two senior light welterweight titles.

"He has seven fights, for five wins, one draw and a controversial loss that was on the Danny Green/ Shane Cameron undercard a couple of years ago. It is actually quite hard to win in Australia."

Taylor knows heavyweight star Joseph Parker well and was in the New Zealand team with him in Delhi four years ago.

He says Parker's work ethic was one of the things that made him stand out.

"He is doing it for a living really now, so it is a bit easier to push forward. I am sure there are a lot of us, like Gunnar, who would like to get that opportunity to do that."