At the start of Sky’s “The Gloves Are Off,” Regis Prograis reiterated a point that has been made many times during the promotion leading up to his fight with Josh Taylor:
“It’s number 1 versus number 2. It’s like I’ve been saying, for me this is a lifetime like opportunity. You’ve got two undefeated fighters, in their prime, World Champions, number 1 and number 2.”
The final of the Junior Welterweight World Super Series.
This is a terrific match-up.
One man is being conveniently forgotten though: Jose Ramirez.
The 27 year old American is 25-0 (17 KOs) and is fresh off a 6th round TKO of the previously unbeaten, Maurice Hooker. The combined wins/losses record of his last five opponents when entering their bout with him is 127-2. The Ring and Boxing News have him at #3, with Prograis and Taylor as the top two, but Ramirez is currently rated as the #1 Junior Welterweight in the world – ahead of both Prograis and Taylor - by ESPN and Boxing Monthly. The TBRB have him at #2, one place above Josh Taylor (excluding the inactive Mikey Garcia who has not fought at 140lbs for over 18 months). Based on these respected boxing sites, the majority consider Prograis and Ramirez to be the top 2 in the division – not Prograis/Taylor. Incidentally, BoxRec and World Boxing News also have Ramirez listed above Prograis and Taylor.
As the majority of these sites do not rate Prograis/Taylor as the top 2 in the division, this fight does not meet our Championship Policy criteria.
The Lineal Championship has been vacant at 140lbs since previous Champion, Terence Crawford, moved up to 147lbs.
It is the boxing press who traditionally decide which fighters should challenge for a vacant World Championship. At 140lbs right now, this means the winner of Prograis/Taylor must fight Jose Ramirez to be the true, Lineal Champion.