Josh Taylor 16 (12 KOs)-0-0 defeats previously undefeated American Regis Prograis 24 (20 KOs)-1 (0 KOs)-0 by majority decision unifying the Light-Welterweight division winning the WBA title and retaining his IBF belt whilst also winning the Muhammed Ali trophy at the O2 Arena London this Saturday, broadcasted on Sky Sports Box Office.
Right, going into this fight it was billed as a 50 50, and to be honest that’s how it played out. The one thing that I was predicting that Prograis would have more success early when the two fighters were fresh and that Taylor would come on strong later on once Prograis gassed and Taylor’s pressure came into play, and I’m pleased to announce that I wasn’t too far wrong.
The decision didn’t go the way I was expecting but the fight played out pretty much like I thought it would. From the outset Taylor looked a little bit bamboozled by the speed of Prograis counters to the body, and I gave him 3 of the first 4. Maybe, thinking about it bamboozled is the wrong term, I just saw Prograis as consistently being the one or two steps ahead, landing the cleaner shots and tending to be the one who finished the exchanges.
But from round five onwards Taylor switched it up and use the game plan that I thought he’s use, in getting up close and swapping leather to the body. To be honest I was surprised with the ease at which Taylor managed to close the range, this is where in my prediction was most off, with either: Prograis being more comfortable than I thought he’d be on the inside against Taylor or Prograis not having quite the authority in his punches to keep Taylor honest for longer, either way from round 5 to round 10 it was Taylor’s fight.
The thing that sets Taylor apart from someone like Prograis is that there is that spite in his work, you can see the venom in the shots, but I think it was the mental pressure more than the actual power in the shots that saw Prograis noticeably tiring by round 6. The thing is, is that when Prograis stamina was taken away those flashy combination counters don’t pack the same heat as they did in the first four leading to Taylor getting inside even easier and working that right hook to head and body.
Then came the championship rounds and by my eyes I had them both for Prograis. Taylor by this point had put in an enormous shift over the mid rounds and when Prograis was that little bit fresher he seemed to be the one who’d slip the shots just that little bit easier and landing more clean and effective.
Personally, I scored it a draw giving Prograis rounds: 1, 3, 4, 8, 11 and 12, I think anyway, I didn’t write it down, might have been round 7 not round 8 but you get the picture, it was close, and I thought it would go to Taylor being in his home country ish, London is hardly Scotland if you know what I mean, but that’s the way it went.
114-114 and 115-113 Taylor you can’t argue with, but I feel for Prograis when the 117-112 was read out, it just leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth you know.
If there is a rematch, I would be favouring Prograis again, just since I think he’s the more versatile of the two and I think he could adapt better if a rematch was to take place, but I’m just thankful for a classic in the WBSS. A tournament that has had great fights as in number 1 facing number two, but not a tournament where I could go back and list all the great fights that have happened.
So, a Scot has become the best in the division, so to all few Englishman we adopt the standard procedure of “this is a great moment for British boxing” but don’t worry, when he loses he’ll just be a Scot.
On the undercard Derek Chisora 32 (23 KOs)-9 (3 KOs)-0 defeats David Price 25 (20 KOs)-7 (7 KOs)-0 by 4th round TKO in a fight which wasn’t the most interesting, so I won’t waste too much time on it. Chisora was just too elusive coming in for Price who simply didn’t get going. There were boos from the crowd at the stoppage but in my opinion the corner throwing in the towel was the right thing after Price went down in the 4th, Price was gassed and it was only going to go one way. Also on the card Lee Selby 28 (9 KOs)- 2 (0 KOs)-0 defeats Ricky Burns 43 (16 KOs)-8 (0 KOs)-1 by 12 round majority decision.