Regis Prograis vs. Josh Taylor announced for October 26 in London, UK

By Boxing News - 08/31/2019 - Comments

By Charles Brun: It’s official now that Regis Prograis and Josh Taylor are set to battle in the final of the WBSS 140-lb tournament on October 26 at the O2 Arena in London, England. An official announcement of the Prograis vs. Taylor fight is coming soon. Prograis has to be seen as the favorite in this match-up, because he’s looked like the better fighter than Taylor during the tourney.

Other fights on the card:

  • Dereck Chisora vs. Joseph Parker
  • Ricky Burns vs. Lee Selby
  • Lawrence Okolie vs. Yves Ngabu

Regis Prograis giving Josh Taylor home country advantage

Prograis (24-0, 20 KOs) has settled his issues he had with the organizers of the World Boxing Super Series tourney, and he’s ready to proceed. The lawsuit that the 29-year-old Prograis has filed has been terminated, according to Mike Coppinger. Prograis has signed to face IBF light welterweight champion Taylor (15-0, 12 KOs) on the 26th of October.

It’s interesting that Prograis is letting Taylor get the home country advantage, because this potentially could backfire on him if there’s a dodgy decision or a quick stoppage. Taylor will have a lot of problems trying to keep Prograis off of him, and this could get out of hand quickly.

Taylor’s fans wanted the fight to take place in his hometown of Glasgow, Scotland, but they took it to London. Perhaps the best reason for that is it’s the closest thing they can get to having it in a neutral venue. It’s not going to going to be a neutral venue obvious, but this is best they could do. With Prograis’ power and talent, he’ll likely take the crowd out of the fight right away.

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Prograis-Taylor an even match-up on paper

In looking at the fight from the standpoint of their recent performances, Prograis vs. Taylor looks to be a toss-up fight. Taylor (15-0, 12 KOs) is coming off of a 12 round unanimous decision win over IBF champion Ivan Baranchyk. The fight took place on May 18 in their semifinals of the WBSS tournament. Baranchyk gave Taylor some things to think early on, but he ended up getting out-boxed him down the stretch.

The lack of boxing skills for Baranchyk is what sank his ship, and sent him down to defeat. In Taylor’s quarterfinal fight, he defeated the inexperienced Ryan Martin by a 7th round knockout. Martin looked like he didn’t belong in the ring with Taylor. It’s unclear why Martin was picked out for the tourney, but he looked woefully out of place against Taylor. The Baranchyk match was a competitive one for Taylor, but his fight against Martin might as well have been a bye. It was too much of a mismatch.

Prograis has faced the far better opposition in the WBSS tournament than Taylor. In Prograis’ two fights, he’s beaten former WBO lightweight champion Terry Flanagan and Kiryl Relikh. Those guys are both better fighters than Taylor’s two opponents.