THE checklist for any aspiring Scottish professional boxer is a long one: the British, Commonwealth, and European titles to start with. Then it’s the four major world belts - WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF - with The Ring title as the cherry on top.

Now two close pals from the Edinburgh area – one a diehard Jambo, the other a massive Hibs fan – have the lot shared out between them.

Lee McGregor was just one of the supporting cast in Las Vegas this past month as Josh Taylor rose to the peak of his profession by becoming undisputed world super-lightweight champion.

The 24 year-old, however, is no slouch himself. After just 10 fights, the bantamweight holds the three major titles below world level and is eager to get his hands on more.

Having been part of Taylor’s entourage for the build-up to his bout with Jose Ramirez and beyond, McGregor got as good a view as anyone of what it takes to succeed at the highest level.

Trained by Ben Davison who also works with Taylor, the MTK fighter acknowledges he still has some way to go before he can be considered among the elite of his division. After all, they don’t call Naoya Inoue the Monster for nothing.

But with time on his side – he is six years younger than Taylor – McGregor knows it is all in place for him to emulate his friend’s achievements.

“I was blessed to have been out in Vegas with Josh,” he admits. “It was world-class sparring, training at world-class gyms alongside world-class fighters. It’s an experience I’ll never forget.

“Hopefully it can hold me in good stead for the future. Without doubt when Josh next fights out here I’ll be alongside him on the card representing Scotland.

“I’ll keep training away and it’s looking like I’ll be back in the ring in July. I just need to make sure I’m ready for that.”

Much as McGregor would have liked to have fought on the undercard on Saturday night, he admits it was probably a good thing in hindsight that he didn’t, his nerves and emotions shot simply through supporting his friend.

“It was unbelievable – absolutely amazing,” he says of being ringside as Taylor made history. “I feel like it was one of the best nights of my career and I wasn’t even fighting myself! It was a special, special night.

“It’s different when it’s you in the ring. You’re in control and you know what you’re going to be doing. When you’re watching you’re helpless. There’s nothing you can do.

“I think that’s why I get more nervous. I was gutted in the build-up because I was meant to be on that card.

“But I’m quite glad now I wasn’t because my emotions were all over the place the whole day.

“I think you can sometimes see us on the broadcast every time a punch landed. I threw every shot with Josh. I was sweating buckets and I’ve got blisters on my feet.”

Team Taylor made quite the entrance on their return to Scotland, flying on a private jet from London before the champion returned to a hero’s welcome in his hometown of Prestonpans.

It has taken this latest victory for the wider world to acknowledge the scale of Taylor’s achievements but McGregor thinks it still doesn’t go far enough.

“I hope he gets the recognition he deserves now but I still can’t see it. I don’t know what else he has to do.

“There should have been an open-topped bus parade for him coming back. It’s unbelievable what he’s done. It’s crazy with the amount of coverage he isn’t getting.

“He doesn’t chase it but he shouldn’t have to. Maybe if he did he’d get a bit more behind him. I don’t think he’s that bothered to be honest but he deserves it.”

Taylor posted footage of the team’s celebrations on his Instagram page, the camera quickly showing a prone McGregor in the boot of their hire car, either sleeping or passed out.

“The celebrations were amazing,” he admitted. “Special, special. It was a night I’ll never forget. We partied till the early hours of the morning and only had a couple of hours’ sleep so we were all feeling it the next day.

“We did the hotel, the casino, the bar in the hotel. All the boys were together and we just had a great night.”