Regis Prograis vs. Josh Taylor, was a professional boxing match contested on 26 October 2019, for the WBA (Super), IBF and The Ring light welterweight championship. The fight was the World Boxing Super Series: light-welterweight final, with the winner receiving the Muhammad Ali Trophy. The bout took place at The O2 Arena London, with Taylor winning by majority decision.
Background On 30 June 2018, it was announced that Taylor would join the eight man tournament. It was later announced on 13 July 2018 that Prograis would also be taking part in the tournament.
Prograis defeated his quarter-final, and semi-final opponents, Terry Flanagan, and Kiryl Relikh, to win the WBA light welterweight title. Taylor defeated his quarter-final, and semi-final opponents, Ryan Martin, and Ivan Baranchyk, to win the IBF light welterweight title.
On 31 August 2019, the unification bout between Prograis and Taylor was announced to take place on 26 October at The O2 Arena on Sky Sports Box Office.
Speaking during the build up Taylor expressed confidence saying "I'm very confident that I can outbox him and outfight him as well, I'm all about my speed, reactions and timing but I punch real hard as well for someone of my size. If I hit you, you're either going down or you're going to be hurt and in trouble. So if he tries to make it a 'dog fight', tries to walk me down and drag me into a fight, he is getting chinned. I will knock him spark out. The two best lads in the division are going for it. We are both undefeated, we are both hungry, so it's going to be a real interesting fight. But I can't see anything other than a Josh Taylor win."
Prograis entered the fight as a slight favourite to win.
Fight details Taylor spend much of the bout on the front foot with Prograis using head movement to evade before attempting to land counters with both hands.
After 12 hard fought rounds, Taylor was awarded a majority decision victory with scores of 115–113, 117–112 and an even 114–114.
Aftermath Following Taylor's win, in the post-fight interview, Taylor challenged WBC and WBO light-welterweight champion José Ramírez to an undisputed title fight. Prograis expressed interest in a rematch.
Fight card Confirmed bouts: Weight Classvs.MethodRoundTimeNotesLight-welterweightJosh Taylor (c)def.Regis Prograis (c)12/12HeavyweightDerek Chisoradef.David Price4/122:00LightweightLee Selbydef.Ricky BurnsMD12/12CruiserweightLawrence Okoliedef.Yves Ngabu (c)TKO7/122:28WelterweightConor Benn (c)def.Steve JamoyeTKO4/102:18Preliminary boutsSuper-bantamweightShannon Courtenaydef.Jasmina Nad4/4Light-middleweightAbass Baraou (c)def.John O'DonnellTKO6/102:59Non-TV boutsMiddleweightAustin Williamsdef.Miroslav JunaPTS4/4Light-heavyweightDenis Radovandef.Luke Blackledge4/83:00
Broadcasting CountryBroadcasterPPVStreamUnited KingdomSky Sports Box OfficeUnited StatesDAZN
References