Josh Taylor has warned Regis Prograis against turning their highly-anticipated World Boxing Super Series Ali Trophy Final into a “dog fight” and insists that he possesses the power to knock his opponent “spark out” should the chance present itself.
The fierce Super-Lightweight rivals are days away from locking horns at The O2 in London in a fascinating match-up of two unbeaten southpaws with the WBA and IBF World titles also on the line, shown live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and DAZN in the US.
Proud Scotsman Taylor is oozing confidence ahead of his biggest fight to date against American foe Prograis in what will be the first defence of the IBF crown that he ripped from heavy-handed slugger Ivan Baranchyk at the The SSE Hydro in Glasgow earlier this year.
“The two best lads in the division are going for it,” said Taylor. “We are both undefeated, we are both hungry, both hungry for more success so it’s going to be a real interesting fight. I’m all about my speed, reactions and timing.
“My footwork is very good. I can offset you with feints and timing, but I punch real hard as well for someone of my size. I wouldn’t say I was a concussive, one-punch knockout artist, but I know if I hit you, you’re either going down or you’re going to be hurt and in trouble. So, I definitely think I can do a bit of everything.
“We’ll just have to wait and see how he comes out when that first bell rings. We can predict how he is going to fight and things like that, but you never know until that bell rings. It might be a skillful match throughout the entire fight, or we could just lock horns and fight, or a bit of both. You never know.
“I’m very confident that I can outbox him and outfight him as well. I can’t see anything other than a Josh Taylor win. If he tries to make it a ‘dog fight’, tries to walk me down and drag me into a fight, he is getting chinned. I will knock him spark out!”
Prograis vs. Taylor tops a huge night of action in London.
Liverpool Heavyweight fan favourite David Price (25-6, 20 KOs) steps in to face Derek Chisora (31-9, 22 KOs) in a huge all-British clash, three weight World Champion Ricky Burns (43-7-1, 16 KOs) tackles former IBF Lightweight ruler Lee Selby (27-2, 9 KOs) in an intriguing match-up at 135lbs, Yves Ngbu (20-0, 14 KOs) makes the third defence of his EBU European Cruiserweight title against Lawrence Okolie (13-0, 10 KOs), Conor Benn (15-0, 10 KOs) defends his WBA Continental Welterweight title against late replacement Steve Jamoye (26-7-2, 5 KOs), German Super-Middleweight talent Denis Radovan (12-0-1, 5 KOs) meets former Commonwealth Champion Luke Blackledge (26-8-2, 9 KOs), Watford Bantamweight prospect Shannon Courtenay (3-0, 1 KO) aims to go 4-0, Houston Middleweight talent Austin Williams (3-0, 3 KOs) fights in the UK for the first time and Berlin’s Abass Baraou (7-0, 4 KOs) takes on John O’Donnell (33-2, 11 KOs) for the WBC International Super-Welterweight title.
Tickets priced £40, £60, £80, £100, £200 and £500 (VIP) are available to purchase from StubHub (www.stubhub.co.uk), The O2 (www.theo2.co.uk) and Matchroom Boxing (www.matchroomboxing.com).
