Eight men entered the World Boxing Super Series junior welterweight tournament and now Josh Taylor stands alone on top of the mountain after an exciting battle with Regis Prograis in the finals.
After 12 enthralling rounds in front of a packed crowd at London's O2 Arena, Taylor came out on top with a majority decision win over Prograis to unify the WBA and IBF junior welterweight titles and win the tournament. While one judge had the bout scored a 114-114 draw, the other two judges had Taylor winning with scores of 115-113 and 117-112.
Both men traded big shots from the start of the fight, but Taylor's impressive jab work, workrate and physical superiority won him enough close rounds to pick up the win. Prograis was able to make the fight a close one at the end with a furious rally and brutalized Taylor's right eye to the point it was swollen shut.
The past few months answered many questions surrounding boxing's deep 140-pound division. In July, Jose Ramirez stopped Maurice Hooker to unify the WBC and WBO titles and now Taylor holds the WBA "Super" and IBF titles. A fight between Ramirez and Taylor would create a new undisputed junior welterweight champion, the first since Terence Crawford did it in 2017.
The rest of the card saw the likes of Derek Chisora stop David Price in the fourth round and Lee Selby establish himself as a potential lightweight title contender with a majority decision over Ricky Burns.
Below are the full results of the World Boxing Super Series card (10/26) from The O2 Arena in London:
- Josh Taylor defeated Regis Prograis by majority decision (114-114, 115-113, 117-112) to unify the WBA and IBF junior welterweight titles and win the World Boxing Super Series tournament
- Derek Chisora defeated David Price by TKO, round 4 to win the WBO Intercontinental heavyweight title
- Lee Selby defeated Ricky Burns by majority decision (115-115, 116-112, 116-113)
- Lawrence Okolie defeated Yves Ngabu by TKO, round 7 to win the EBU European cruiserweight title
- Conor Benn defeated Steve Jamoye to retain the WBA Continental welterweight title by TKO, round 4
- Abass Baraou defeated John O'Donnell to retain the WBC International junior middleweight title by TKO, round 6
- Denis Radovan defeated Luke Blackledge by RTD, round 4
- Austin Williams defeated Miroslav Juna by points (40-36)
- Shannon Courtenay defeated Melinda Habran by points (39-38)
