The World Boxing Association (WBA) Classifications Committee announced its rankings for October, which includes the 15 best boxers in the 17 weight divisions. Only these boxers have the possibility of aspiring to a world title fight within their respective divisions.
The “Boxer of the Month” distinction was awarded to Josh Taylor, who overcame Regis Prograis via majority decision at the O2 Arena in London to become the new World Boxing Association (WBA) Super World Super Lightweight Champion, as well as earning the Muhammad Ali Trophy in the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) tournament final.
The scorecards came in 114-114, 115-113 and 117-112 for Taylor, who fought a surprisingly close range and aggressive fight against the power-punching American Prograis in a highly anticipated showdown between two undefeated fighters in the prime of their careers.
Prograis came into the fight attempting the first defense of his WBA title that he won in April against Kiryl Relikh, while Taylor was coming into the fight having last defeated Ivan Baranchyk in May. Both men went 2-0 in the WBSS tournament to arrive at the final against each other.
For the fight itself; Taylor came out very physical right from the opening bell, pushing Prograis backwards. Prograis was used to being the stronger man in the ring and looked slightly surprised that his power and physicality were not having an effect as is usual in his fights.
Taylors quicker hands were also a factor in the fight, as he mostly stood in the pocket against Prograis and was landing the cleaner, more telling blows as he got off much faster and was blocking many punches coming from Prograis.
By the time the championship rounds came, both fighters were looking a bit beaten up and bloody as well as tired, but both were also in the pink of condition and not running out of steam any time soon with everything on the line.
The fight ended in thrilling fashion, with great back-and-forth fighting in the championship rounds as both men landed their best punches, taking the best that each other had to offer in a great fight and great closing to the contest.
With the victory, Josh Taylor improved his record to 16 wins, no losses, and 12 wins by knockout. Regis Prograis, on the other hand, saw his record fall to 24 wins, one loss, and 20 wins via knockout.
The honorable mention for boxer of the month is Dmitry Bivol, who retained his World Boxing Association (WBA) World Light Heavyweight Championship against Lenin Castillo via unanimous decision, with the judges scorecards reading 119-108, 119-108, and 120-107. The fight took place at Wintrust Arena in Chicago and was Bivols fifth defense of his title that he won back in November of 2017.
