Fast Results from London: Taylor Tops Prograis, Wins WBSS 140-pound Tourney

There was an awful lot at stake in today’s match in London between Regis Prograis and Josh Taylor. Someone’s “O” had to go, as Michael Buffer might have said. The winner would leave the arena with two title belts; the loser would go home empty. And then there was the coveted Muhammad Ali Trophy and the pile of loot that went with it.

A win by Taylor, it was written, would make the Scotsman the best of Britain’s active crop of boxers. He would get an argument from super middleweight titlist Callum Smith, a former Ali Trophy winner and the highest-ranked Brit on any of the pound-for-pound lists, but Taylor, the Tartan Tornado, certainly made a strong claim for that honor by winning a 12-round majority decision over his American opponent in a bruising fight that was every bit as good as advertised.  At the conclusion, Prograis’ face was busted up and Taylor’s right eye was swollen.

The scores were 117-112, 115-113, and 114-114. Most observers thought the “115-113 guy” got it right.  Taylor improved to 16-0 (12) and presumably has his eyes on a unification match with WBC/WBO 140-pound champion Jose Carlos Ramirez. It isn’t quite back to the drawing board for Prograis (24-1, 20 KOs) who just may be the second-best fighter in a very strong division.

Co-Feature

Perennial heavyweight contender Dereck Chisora chopped down David Price en route to a fourth-round stoppage, advancing his record to 32-9 (23 KOs). It was the third fight back for the 35-year-old Zimbabwe-born Londoner following a brutal knockout at the hands of Dillian Whyte. The 6’8” Price, a late sub for Joseph Parker, likes to fight and is a glutton for punishment. He’s 25-7 as a pro and has been stopped in all seven of his losses. The finishing blow was a short right hook that put price on the canvas. He beat the count, but when he grabbed a strand of rope to steady himself, his corner wisely tossed in the towel.

Other Bouts

Ricky Burns, a former three-division title-holder, went 12 rounds with Terence Crawford in 2014 and hasn’t slipped too far down the ladder since then although he has now fought 404 rounds as a pro after going 12 in a losing effort today. At age 36, Burns (43-8-1) didn’t have quite enough to turn away former sparring partner Lee Selby (28-2), losing a majority decision (116-112, 116-113), 115-115) in a fairly entertaining chess match.

In a fight slated for 12 rounds, 2016 Olympian Lawrence Okolie (14-0, 11 KOs) wrested the European cruiserweight title from Yves Ngabu of Belgium with a seventh-round stoppage. The six-foot-five Okolie, a protégé of Anthony Joshua, was the taller man by five inches and had a 10-inch reach advantage. Ngabu, now 20-1, needed to work on the inside to have any success and wasn’t able to close the gap. It was a sloppy fight until Okolie rocked Ngabu with a pair of rights, putting the Belgian on Queer Street and forcing the stoppage.

In his most impressive showing to date, welterweight Conor Benn 16-0 (11 KOs) scored a brutal fourth round knockout over Belgium’s Steve Jamoye (26-8-2). Moments after having a point deducted for low blows, Benn knocked Jamoye into dreamland with a vicious right hand. The referee didn’t bother to count. Benn seems to be on a collision course with countryman Josh Kelly.

Also, fast-rising junior middleweight Abass Baraou (8-0, 5 KOs), a German citizen who grew up in the small African nation of Togo, stayed unbeaten with a sixth-round stoppage of John O’Donnell. A 33-year-old southpaw, O’Donnell (33-3) came in having won nine straight, but over a motley assortment of opponents.

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel  

To comment on this story in The Fight Forum CLICK HERE