Josh “The Tartan Tornado” Taylor (15-0, 12 KOs) of Scotland, UK defeated Ivan “The Beast” Baranchyk (19-1, 12 KOs) of Amursk, Russia to capture the IBF Super Lightweight world title in the semifinal of the World Boxing Super Series.
Taylor won with scores of 117-109, 115-111 and 115-111.
The event took place at the SSE Hydro in Scotland and featured two semi-final bouts of the World Boxing Super Series. The second of those bouts showcased devastating puncher Naoya Inoue. The event was streamed live on DAZN in the US.
Taylor is now in line to face WBA Super Lightweight world champion Regis Prograis in the final stage of the WBSS tournament in the Super Lightweight division.
“I feel I’m the best. He [Prograis] feels he’s the best,” said Taylor. “He’s done his job. We’ve both done our thing. I believe I will win the fight quite comfortably. I think he feels the same.”
“It was an excellent fight,” said Regis Prograis who watched the action from ringside. “It was an excellent atmosphere. I felt the fight would go the distance. They put on a show. This was the best fighting the best. This is what the World Boxing Super Series is about. I felt like I was going to end up fighting him. I’m sure he felt the same. Now it’s happening. I can’t wait.”
Japanese phenom Naoya “Monster” Inoue (19-0, 17 KOs) scored a devastating second-round knockout victory against Emmanuel Rodriguez (19-1, 12 KOs) of Manati, Puerto Rico in a scheduled 12-round fight.
Inoue was simply too strong for Rodriguez, dropping him with a hook to the chin and then again with a shot to the body to end the fight at 1:19 of the aforementioned round.
OH MY GOODNESS. "THE MONSTER" @NaoyaInoue_410 IS UNREAL! 🇯🇵😈 pic.twitter.com/CQRrK9lQjs
— DAZN USA (@DAZN_USA) May 18, 2019
“I came out looking to perform aggressively,” said Naoya Inoue. “I always have that feeling. I’ve always kept that going, and I performed very well tonight. He came out in the first round and gave me a lot of pressure, and I didn’t know how it was going to turn out after the first round.”
Inoue, who already had the WBA Bantamweight world title, captured the IBF and Ring Magazine Bantamweight world championships with this victory. He is now in line to face Nonito Donaire in the final stage of the World Boxing Super Series.
“Nonito Doniare has had a great career,” said Inoue. “He has a great record, and he is a great fighter. I respect him a lot. I look forward to the fight. I don’t know how I’m going to fight him yet, but I will figure it out.”
“He is a monster. You have to learn to tame the monster,” said Donaire who was also ringside. “That’s something I have to figure out. He’s a fighter with great power and great intelligence. That makes me feel like I’m 21 again because that excites me.”
Other Results
Paul Butler (29-2, 15 KOs) of Cheshire, UK knocked out Salvador Hernandez Sanchez (14-9-1, 9 KOs) of Chiapas, Mexico via a left hook to the body in the sixth round of a scheduled eight-round Bantamweight fight. Butler stopped Sanchez at 2:52 of the aforementioned round.
Reece McFadden (3-0, 1 KO) of Scotland, UK beat Georgi Georgiev (7-15-1, 4 KOs) of Sofia, Bulgaria via a wide unanimous decision in a four-round Bantamweight fight. MacFadden won with three scores of 40-36.
Zach Parker (18-0, 12 KOs) of Derbyshire, UK scored a controversial fourth-round technical knockout victory against Italian pugilist Steven Crambert (8-5, 4 KOs) in a Super Middleweight bout originally scheduled for eight-rounds. The fight was stopped at 2:28 of the aforementioned round.
Lee McGregor (6-0, 5 KOs) of Scotland, UK defeated Brett Fidoe (13-51-5, 6 KOs) of Worcestershire, UK via six-round unanimous decision in a Featherweight battle. McGregor won with three scores of 60-54.
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