Prograis Remains Betting Favorite Despite Late Money On Taylor

From the moment the field was revealed for the World Boxing Super Series 140-pound tournament, the majority of boxing fans and insiders were certain that Regis Prograis and Josh Taylor would meet in the final round.

To this day, that same camp remains torn on the outcome for their unification clash, which takes place Saturday evening at The O2 in London, England.

Betting odds haven’t moved very far past the opening line, though with more of the money coming in on Scotland’s Taylor (15-0, 12KOs), who is a +135 underdog after having opened at +160 according to BetOnline.ag. Prograis (24-0, 20KOs)—who has called New Orleans, Louisiana and Houston, Texas home but now lives and trains in Los Angeles, California—opened as a 9/5 (-180) betting favorite and is currently at -155 for his first career fight outside of the United States.

“The price on Taylor has shortened over the weeks within the industry,” Adam Burns, sportsbook manager for BetOnline.ag told BoxingScene.com. “A lot of UK based bookmakers will have taken most money on Taylor, as well as the fight being a “hometown” fight for Taylor.”

The latter part is reference to Taylor being based out of the United Kingdom. Even a seven-hour drive to London from Taylor’s native Edinburg still marking a significantly shorter and cheaper trek than flying in from the other side of the Atlantic, thus the expectation of Prograis marching into potentially hostile territory.

Of course, all of that changes once the opening bell sounds.

“Prograis has the better resume and I think he will be too powerful for Taylor,” believes Burns. “This fight might have come a bit too soon for Taylor. If not for the World Boxing Super Series format, then this is a fight that would have looked better in two years.

“I think it could end in the middle rounds, and if not then I see Prograis cruising to a unanimous decision victory.”

Currents odds are -270 for the bout going at least 10.5 rounds (extending 91 seconds into the 11th round), and +210 ending prior to that point.

Prograis scored a 6th round stoppage of Kiryl Relikh (23-2, 19KOs) to win his portion of the 140-pound crown in April, six months after scoring a landslide decision win over former lightweight titlist Terry Flanagan in the quarterfinal round last October. Both bouts took place in his native Louisiana.

Taylor—a 2012 Great Britain Olympian who has fought all but twice in the UK to date as a pro—enjoyed back-to-back tournament wins over previously unbeaten foes at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. A 9th round stoppage of Ryan Martin last November was followed up by his first career title win, unseating Ivan Baranchyk this past May to set up Saturday’s unification bout and tournament finale.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox