By Jake Donovan
With one super lightweight title unification fight on tap for this weekend, another one is in queue for the fall.
The World Boxing Super Series super lightweight tournament finals between Regis Prograis and Josh Taylor will likely land in the United Kingdom, with the first weekend of October targeted according to information acquired by BoxingScene.com from two sources with knowledge of such talks.
Prograis and Taylor advances to the finals by very different means, though both enjoying a pair of home games to reach that point.
Tournament top-seed Prograis (24-0, 20KOs) enters on the heels of a one-sided stoppage of Kiryl Relikh to win his first major title this past April. The WBSS semifinals bout took place in Lafayette, La., the approximate halfway point between the two cities which Prograis has called home - Houston, Tx. and New Orleans.
Reaching that point, Prograis scores a lopsided 12-round decision over former lightweight titlist Terry Flanagan last November in New Orleans. His win over Relikh helped kick off the semifinals round of the tournament that saw major turmoil amidst financial concerns that it would move forward.
At the forefront of the controversy was Ivan Baranchyk, whose team threatened to pull their fighter from his May 18 title defense versus Taylor (15-0, 12KOs). The matter was resolved through an undisclosed but hefty settlement, with Taylor getting his second straight home fight at SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland where he outpointed the previously unbeaten Baranchyk over 12 rounds.
The win came six months after Taylor tore through previously unbeaten Ryan Martin last November at the very same venue.
While a specific location has yet been revealed, it is believed that the final destination will be London, England. Taylor’s home country of Scotland has been ruled out, according to sources.
By the time the fight rolls around, a winner will have likely been decided (barring a draw or No-Contest) between unbeaten 140-pound titlists Jose Carlos Ramirez and Maurice Hooker. The bout takes place this Saturday in Hooker’s hometown of Dallas, Texas.
Both bouts are being carried by DAZN, which has streamed the entire second season of the WBSS tournament spanning three weight divisions.
Dates and locations for the remaining two finals have yet to be revealed but will come after Prograis-Taylor. As previously reported by BoxingScene.com, the bantamweight finals between Japan’s Naoya Inoue and Fil-Am star Nonito Donaire is being targeted for November in Japan.
The hunt continues for the cruiserweight finals between Latvia’s Mairis Briedis and Miami-based Cuban knockout artist Yunier Dorticos.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
