Big Fight Preview: Prograis and Taylor

Big Fight Preview: Prograis and Taylor

By Will Collett

It has not been an easy ride, but the time has almost arrived for the final of the second season of the World Boxing Super Series in the super lightweight division.

The tournament burst on to the scene in September 2017, pitting a combination of world class fighters from each selected division against each other. The set up has been a breath of fresh air for the sport and has been extremely well received by boxing fans.

Fed up of boxing politics playing too big a role in preventing fights from happening, this dynamic tournament gained favour by offering mouthwatering fights at an elite level.

One such event that has caught the public’s imagination is the matchup between number one seed, Regis Prograis, who holds the WBC and WBA world titles and IBF world champion Josh Taylor. This unification sees both fighters put their belts on the line as well as compete for the vacant and prestigious ring magazine belt.

With Prograis’ home in New Orleans and Taylor’s in Glasgow, the fight needed to land on neutral territory. Kalle Sauerland, Chief Boxing Officer of the WBSS, alongside promoter Eddie Hearn have now confirmed that the bout would be the main event at the O2 Arena on October 26th.

Taylor’s journey to the final consisted of a dominant performance over American Ryan Martin to reach the semi’s. Following this, a gritty performance here against Ivan Baranchyk saw him pick up the IBF world title and secure his spot against Prograis, who had just defeated Kiryl Relikh and in doing so, added the WBA belt to his collection.

Before the final was officially announced, there were some concerns from team Prograis concerning payments and his withdrawal from the tournament was threatened. Once the tournament organisers addressed these concerns, the fight was confirmed and both boxers could begin their camp.

Unsurprisingly, each fighter has expressed their desire to challenge the very best in the division and with both confident of the win, this is going to be a chess match of the highest calibre. It is only deserving that one of the most elite match ups of 2019 so far will be contesting the coveted Mohammed Ali Trophy, along with their accompanying belts.

In conjunction with the accolades that will be won, the actual event will feature on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and will be broadcast live on DAZN in the US to their growing audience.

This exposure puts their careers in a great position moving forward post tournament. Not only will they have received career high purses, but by becoming household names, promoters have more to gain from putting them in with their own fighters; Oleksandr Usyk being a prime example of this.

As this event is being billed as pay per view on Sky Sports, a substantive undercard is needed despite the elite level the main event fighters are competing at.

The excitement for the co-main
event of Derek Chisora vs Joseph Parker had definitely transcended into the casual market, with Parker now an established name on these shores having boxed both Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte.

Unfortunately this is no longer going ahead, with Parker forced to pull out after
suffering a serious illness that has been rumoured to be from a spider bite.
Chisora, a man with a special place in British fight fans hearts, remains on the card and a replacement is currently being lined up.

The list of potential opponents included many, such as Alexander Povetkin, Michael Hunter and Tyson Fury’s latest opponent, Otto Wallin.

Povetkin is now unlikely and Chisora’s camp have made it clear that Hunter is not a preferred choice, with Derek having
struggled with southpaws previously. This is despite his recent dispatching of Artur Spilka in such emphatic fashion.

Dillian Whyte’s most recent opponent Oscar Rivas and fellow Brit David Price have been rumoured to now be on the short list, however confirmation is expected in the
coming week.

Further down the card is an excellent cruiserweight clash for the EBU European title between Lawrence Okolie and Yves Ngabu. Whilst his performances so far into his professional career have drawn much criticism, the pace in which Okolie is moving through the division can only be
respected. This will be his second fight under new trainer Shane McGuigan and many fans will be looking to see the improvements he has made since joining the growing camp.

Team Okolie are clearly confident, stepping him up to European level so soon, however, the intrigue lies in whether he will be able to dispose of his opponent as easily as he has been doing in his career so far. His sometimes ugly and awkward, but effective style has seen him get so far. Opponents often seem to feel his power and are unable to deal with it. They then start to
fight negatively, something which then reflects negatively upon him.

Whilst he is hugely effective at range due to his physical attributes, these same attributes have caused him some issues with producing quality inside work.

McGuigan, known for improving a
fighters shot selection as well as explosivity, will be looking to add more to Okolie’s arsenal to fully prepare him against another hungry, unbeaten fighter. He is fortunate enough to have great
in-house sparring in Chris Billam-Smith, another cruiserweight looking to make a name for himself.

Yves Ngabu, who will be in the opposite corner come fight night, now fights out of the Ingle gym and is thriving on the challenge ahead, confident of victory.

The British public have always loved a domestic dust up, regardless of weight category, and so the confirmation that Ricky Burns would be fighting Lee Selby at lightweight on the same card was welcomed. Having jumped up two weights from featherweight, Selby looks to have a far improved performance than his last two. With one of these being his points loss to newly crowned IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington at Elland Road, he seeks to become a world champion in a second division.

Fighting out of Tony Sims gym, Burns is Scotland’s only ever boxer to have held world titles in three weight divisions. At the tail end of his career, many thought his loss to Anthony Crolla might be the end of the road, however, he has shown his willingness to challenge himself at world level.

After losing his world title, Selby’s rebuilding process had another hurdle, as in his lightweight debut on the undercard of Degale vs Eubank Jr. he had to fight on with monstrous cuts. Selby should theoretically be the fresher of the two, however up at a new weight and untested at a higher level, there are still question marks surrounding his name.

If Selby can reproduce a performance as seen against Gradovich, when he picked up his IBF world title, then Burns may be in for a tricky night. Ricky however, is no stranger to slick boxers and with his many years of experience over Selby, as well as being an established 130lb fighter, he will be looking to utilise this and push Selby to the limit.

With one of the most elite fights that could be made in the division in Taylor vs Prograis, this night of boxing will be host to quality fights from the top down. A combination of those at the end of their career in Burns and Selby as well as those beginning to make their way through the professional ranks such as Conor Benn make for an entertaining nights boxing.

Ultimately, I don’t think the main event can do anything other than deliver, with the fights on the undercard being an added bonus.