By Scott Gilfoid: Josh Taylor got a chance to size up WBC interim light welterweight champion Regis Prograis when the two of them were filming promos for the World Boxing Super Series tournament on Wednesday, and he feels he’s much smaller than him and not in his league talent-wise. Taylor (13-0, 11 KOs) and Prograis (22-0, 19 KOs) are expected to face each other in the final of the WBSS.
Of course, the unbeaten Ryan Martin (22-0, 12 KOs) will have something to say about that, as he faces the 27-year-old Taylor in the quarterfinals of the WBSS tournament. Martin, 25, will be looking to score an upset of the 5’10” Taylor when they meet up. Martin has the height, reach, speed and power advantage over Taylor, so there’s a VERY good chance that the Scottish fighter won’t be around by the time WBSS final takes place.
“He’s smaller than I thought,” Josh Taylor said about Prograis to the World Boxing Super Series. ”I’ve got the height over him. I’ve got the reach over him. I’ve got the speed and I think I beat him in every department,” Taylor said.
Prograis hits harder than Taylor, and he’s able to punch with major power from every angle. Taylor needs to be in the perfect position for him to load up on a power shot. He’s not like Prograis, who can punch with devastating power even when off balance. Prograis is likely going to have his hand raised at the end of his fight against Taylor. I see this as a very easy fight for Prograis. Taylor is little better than Viktor Postol. That’s Taylor’s level. Prograis much better, and the boxing fans and Taylor will realize that after they see him in action against Terry Flanagan in his quarterfinals fight in the tournament.
Taylor will have a two inch height advantage and one and half inch reach advantage over the 5’8” Prograis. However, Taylor’s size advantage isn’t enough to guarantee victory. Prograis stopped a taller and more powerful fighter than Taylor in his 2nd round knockout victory over the 5’10 ½” Julius Indongo earlier this year on March 9 in Deadwood, South Dakota. Indongo’s reach is two inches longer than Taylor’s and four inches longer than Prograis’ and yet he couldn’t keep him off of him. Prograis easily made it past Indongo’s long reach to knock him down four times in scoring a 2nd round KO.
”Prediction, I’m going to win the whole thing,” Prograis said about the WBSS light welterweight tournament. ”Everybody already says I’m the favorite. I’m the favorite! If you read the articles, most people say it’ll probably be me and Josh Taylor in the finals, but I really don’t pay attention to that. I’m just going to go out there and do me,” Prograis said.
I hate to say it but very, very few boxing fans are picking Taylor to win the WBSS tournament. Yeah, a lot of Taylor’s UK fans are picking him, but the majority of the people seem to be picking Prograis to win the tournament. Taylor looks to be a good fighter, but he probably won’t be around for the WBSS finals due to his mistake of selecting Ryan Martin as his quarterfinals opponent. That was Taylor’s choice in picking Martin, and he’s likely going to regret it. Prograis’ real competition in the WBSS tournament is Martin. The other guys, Taylor, Eduard Troyanovskiy, Anthony Yigit, Terry Flanagan, Kiryl Relikh and Ivan Baranchyk, do’t figure to be around by the time the final takes place in the WBSS tournament.
Prograis, 29, picked former WBO lightweight champion Terry Flanagan (33-1, 13 KOs) for his quarterfinals opponent. Their fight is expected to take place in September or October. Flanagan, 29, is coming off of a 12 round split decision defeat to Maurice Hooker on June 9 in Manchester, England. Hooker beat
Flanagan in a decisive manner to capture the vacant World Boxing Organization light welterweight title. The fight looked like a clear victory for Hooker. That was a clear win for Hooker. Flanagan was exhausted by the 6th round, and he struggle with Hooker’s height and reach advantage. Prograis will have too much punching power for Flanagan to deal with. This fight will likely end with Prograis knocking Flanagan out by the 7th or 8th round depending on if the British fighter chooses to stand and trade.
Taylor should be worry about trying to get past the unbeaten Martin (22-0, 12 KOs) because this guy is a big step up from his last opponent Viktor Postol (29-2, 12 KOs), who he struggled to defeat last month on June 23 in Glasgow, Scotland. Taylor won the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision by the lopsided scores of 117-110, 118-110 and 119-108. The judges were heavily criticized by the boxing public for handing in three lopsided scores in a fight that appeared to be decided by two rounds. Boxing News 24 had Taylor winning the fight by two rounds. It was a close affair. The knockdown Taylor scored in the 10th round seemed to be the difference in the fight. Before the match, Postol was viewed by boxing fans as being over-the-hill. However, Taylor made the lanky 5’11” Ukrainian Postol look like a world beater with the way that he struggled for the entire 12 rounds against him. Taylor didn’t fight like a guy that is going to win the World Boxing Super Series tournament. He fought more like someone who is going to be eliminated in his first match by the 5’11” Martin. Taylor is going to have a lot of problems trying to deal with Martin’s hand speed, power and youth advantage over him. Martin is a better inside fighter than Taylor, and he has the longer reach as well. If Taylor tries to slug with Martin, he’s going to regret it when he winds up getting beaten. Taylor’s best chance of beating Martin is to try and box him for 12 rounds and hope that the judge give him a decision win. For the sake of fans, it would be nice if Tayor and Prograis face each other in the WBSS final, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Ryan Martin is a better talent physically than Taylor, and I expect him to prove it when they face each other.
Prograis is viewed by American boxing fans as the best fighter in the 140-pound weight class, and the guy that will soon unify the division after he picks up the IBF and WBA titles in the WBSS tournament, and then defeats WBC champion Jose Ramirez and WBO champion Maurice Hooker after the tournament ends.