Regis Prograis didn’t agree to fight Josh Taylor in London without making some demands.
BoxingScene.com has confirmed that Prograis wouldn’t consent to boxing Scotland’s Taylor in the United Kingdom unless he was assured in his contract that three neutral judges would be assigned to their 12-round, 140-pound title fight. New Orleans’ Prograis (24-0, 20 KOs) and Taylor (15-0, 12 KOs) will fight for Prograis’ WBA super lightweight title and Taylor’s IBF junior welterweight championship in the final of the World Boxing Super Series’ 140-pound tournament October 26 at O2 Arena in London.
The Athletic first reported that Prograis has been assured neutral judges for the Taylor fight.
Their bout was officially announced Saturday, but not before Prograis’ handlers filed a lawsuit on his behalf August 9 that threatened his withdrawal from the tournament. Prograis’ suit largely was based on the failure of Comosa AG, the company funding the WBSS, to deposit funds for his purse and potential win bonus into an escrow account by a contracted date.
That lawsuit was withdrawn once Prograis agreed to terms for an October 26 fight with Taylor in London.
Prograis had hoped to fight Taylor in the United States, but the event is expected to make more money in the UK. The 30-year-old Prograis will fight outside the U.S. for the first time since he turned pro in April 2012.
Taylor, meanwhile, has fought nine times in Scotland, three times in the United States, once in England, once in Northern Ireland and once in Wales since making his pro debut in July 2015.
The IBF and the WBA are expected to choose judges for their fight.
The British Boxing Board of Control will assign the referee to the Prograis-Taylor fight. The BBBofC is permitted to choose a referee from the UK, according to their agreement.
The selection of officials for the Prograis-Taylor fight will be similar to the process completed prior to the lightweight title bout between Ukraine’s Vasiliy Lomachenko and England’s Luke Campbell on Saturday night at O2 Arena in London.
Three neutral judges and a UK referee were assigned to that 12-round lightweight championship match. Each of those judges – Monaco’s John Robert Laine (118-109), Mexico’s Omar Mintun (119-108) and Canada’s Benoit Roussel (119-108) – scored that fight for Ukraine’s Lomachenko by wide distances.
Scotland’s Victor Loughlin was the referee for Lomachenko-Campbell.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.