SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell has revealed he wants undisputed world boxing champion Josh Taylor to stage the first defence of his four light-welterweight belts in front of a sell-out 50,000 crowd at Hampden.

Taylor defeated American Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas on Saturday night to add the WBO and WBC titles to the IBF and WBA titles he already held and become just the fifth man in the history of his sport to hold all four belts in a division.

Maxwell, who revealed the SFA had lost £6m as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak in March last year, is now keen for the 30-year-old Scot to fight in front of tens of thousands of his countrymen and generate income for the governing body. 

The SFA bought the national stadium, which is unpopular with many football supporters, from previous owners Queen’s Park for £5m back in June 2019 and had planned to redevelop it before the coronavirus outbreak.

Maxwell expressed hope that staging sporting events and concerts, along with being part of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland bid to stage the 2030 World Cup, will enable them to redevelop Hampden.   

“Given everything that has been going on and given the challenges we have faced, some things have had to take a bit of a back seat and Hampden is one of those,” he said.

“We are involved in a 2030 World Cup project for the home nations and a feasibility study around that. It’s interesting to see if there might be any leverage in terms of financial support we can generate from that bid process to make sure that the stadium is, in 2030, fit for a FIFA World Cup. 

“Like we have seen for the Euros there were upgrades needed to get Hampden to the standard it needs to be and that’s an opportunity for us as well. We need to look at our own plans for the stadium in the short, medium and long-term. 

“There was a lot of chat when we bought the stadium about bringing the ends in. You look at stadiums like Stuttgart which have done that. That’s definitely on the agenda and we need to ask if we can look at that. 

“The financial requirements are going to be a challenge, but it’s something we are looking at investigating fully. We need to use the stadium to drive revenue back into the game. That was part of the process when we bought it.” 

Maxwell added: “It was about generating revenue and it was about creating opportunity from activities other than football matches. We have three or four concerts this summer. How do we make that six or seven? We don’t have Queen’s Park playing at the stadium any longer. That gives us more scope to use it for different events. 

“Josh Taylor has just gone and become the undisputed world champion. Why can’t he have his next fight in the National Stadium with 50,000 plus Scottish fans cheering him on? There is absolutely no reason why that can’t happen and those are the things that we, as a business, need to be looking at the generate revenue.”

Many Scottish football supporters wanted the SFA to leave Hampden and stage cup semi-finals and finals as well as international matches at other stadiums around the country. But Maxwell defended the decision to buy the world-famous venue.

“Absolutely it was the right decision,” he said. “I think the anti-Hampden narrative was just one promoted after one or two people said it and others started to believe it. 

“When you see Hampden full for cup finals or internationals or Scotland-England matches you would put it up there with anything. When it’s full to capacity and bouncing it’s brilliant, the atmosphere is incredible. 

“I’m not saying there are not things we can do. But when you go round Europe with the national team – either men or women – Hampden is very far from the worst stadium you’ll encounter. 

“The stadium in Serbia where we qualified for the Euros involved a three minute walk from the side of the pitch to the changing room. Hampden is far from the worst stadium going about. 

“I think it’s just an easy thing to say ‘we don’t like it’. When it is full it is a really good venue.  We will absolutely be doing what we can to improve it, but it doesn’t necessarily need the vast redevelopment everyone thinks.”