Prograis vs. Taylor results: Taylor wins thriller over Prograis

Josh Taylor delighted the UK fans with an exciting win over Regis Prograis in the World Boxing Super Series junior welterweight final.

In one of the best fights of 2019, Josh Taylor (16-0, 12 KOs) staked his claim as the world’s best junior welterweight with an enthralling win over Regis Prograis (24-1, 20 KOs) in the final of the World Boxing Super Series tournament.

A boisterous, pro-Taylor crowd packed The O2 Arena in London to watch the Scot and American go toe-to-toe in a high-paced, grueling affair that was boxing at its highest level. Taylor was able to outwork Prograis and land the better power punches upstairs for a significant part of the contest, but Prograis made a spirited late charge to make things very interesting towards the end.

In the early stages of the contest, it was simply too close to call. Prograis had success with his jab and was aggressively attacking the body. Taylor displayed exemplary skills with his own body work and outstanding in-fighting abilities. Much of the fight was contested in close quarters, which proved to be a problem for Prograis in the middle rounds, which saw Taylor dominate and physically overwhelm “Rougarou.” Taylor’s counter right hooks and sneaky uppercuts were on point.

The final few rounds was truly gripping viewing, as it appeared as if Prograis was fading out of the bout and Taylor’s relentless pressure and combination work had him hurt in the 10th round. Prograis needed to dig deep to have a chance to win, and he was the one landing the harder and cleaner shots in the final six minutes. Taylor’s right eye was a swollen mess, possibly due to an accidental headbutt and very legal punches. They kept a ridiculously fast pace up and turned up the tempo in the 12th, with great back-and-forth exchanges to close out the show.

Official result: Josh Taylor def. Regis Prograis by majority decision (114-114, 115-113, 117-112) to become the unified WBA and IBF junior welterweight champion and the World Boxing Super Series tournament winner

Bloody Elbow scored the bout 115-113 Taylor.

It was gripping action from start to finish, but Taylor was the better man in the ring, and Prograis admitted as such in a classy post-fight interview. Prograis loses his unbeaten record and his WBA title, while Taylor defends his IBF belt and takes the WBA belt.

A rematch between these two seems very plausible down the line, but Taylor has his sights set on unifying all four belts with Jose Ramirez (25-0, 17 KOs), who unified the WBC and WBO titles earlier this year with a KO of Maurice Hooker.