Josh Taylor: Regis Prograis First, Then Undisputed
On October 26, Josh “The Tartan Tornado” Taylor has a very meaningful clash scheduled with Regis “Rougarou” Prograis. The two will meet at the O2 Arena in Greenwich, London in the finals of the World Boxing Super Series.
Taylor will put up his IBF world super lightweight title while Prograis will stake his WBC diamond and WBA super world titles. Also up for grabs will be the vacant Ring Magazine belt.
Needless to say, a great deal of hardware hangs in the balance of this prizefight!
Even though the stakes are remarkably high for this fight, Taylor insists that he is taking it all in stride. The native Scotsman feels their bout comes right on time in terms of his development as a professional fighter.
Going a step further, Prograis’ performance track does not overly impress the Tartan Tornado. Not that he believes Rougarou will be a push-over, for Taylor knows he has a fight on his hands. Rather, he feels that Prograis is somewhat of a one-trick pony.
“I’ve seen a couple of his fights. Every fight that I have seen, it’s the same rhythm, same pattern, same kind of punches. you know?
“People just stand there. His opponents just stand in front of him, not really throwing much, not putting him under pressure, not cutting him off […] not really hitting him back, really!
“So in his last two or three fights, two of them have been past it and one froze. […] he is not really had to fight in this tournament.
“So it’s going to be different come October 26, because he is going to be fighting someone that is young, fresh, undefeated and hungry and hitting him back!”
Due to his previous professional outings and recent sparring with Luke Campbell, Taylor is confident that he can topple the hard-hitting Prograis. Campbell recently fought and lost to Vasiliy Lomachenko in a very entertaining bout.
Withstanding the loss, Taylor is certain that his sparring with Campbell will greatly aid him in his dust-up with Prograis. Only time will tell if that is accurate or not.
“He [Campbell] does some moves like Prograis does, you know similar, very similar as well. So, I believe he is sharper than Prograis, you know? He is quicker. […] He is a lot sharper, definitely a better boxer as well.
“So, I got some great work and learned a lot as well, so yeah, I’ve had great preparation already.”
If Taylor can successfully best Prograis then the sky truly is the limit. Provided he wins, Taylor would like to focus his energies on becoming the undisputed champion of the division.
Although, he understands that this is a bit down the line, and, therefore, refrained from discussing those dreams in greater detail. For the moment, Taylor’s focus is firmly on the task at hand, which is to take out Regis Prograis.
“I’ve got a big task in front of me in Prograis, you know it’s a big fight. It’s a unification fight. So when I win this fight, then it opens up the doors to undisputed fights, but I got to get past this one first.
“[…] I know for sure that if he comes and has a fight, I’ll walk him [into a] shot and I’ll knock him out, and if it’s a boxing cagey fight, I believe I’ll out-box him as well and outpoint him.
“So I can’t see anything other than a win for myself.”
By: Bakari Simpson
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