On Saturday night, inside of the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, two competitors of the recent World Boxing Super Series advanced to the semifinals of the junior welterweight tournament in different fashion.
In the evening’s main event, as seen on DAZN, Regis dominated former champion Terry Flanagan over 12 rounds to take a unanimous decision. Following 12 tactical rounds, Prograis emerged with scorecards favoring him at 119-108, 118-109, and 117-110.
We have seen Prograis (23-0, 19 KO’s) put a lot of hurt on his opponents in recent years but on Saturday he was a boxer first, fighting calmly and with a purpose, rarely letting himself get out of his element. By the middle rounds it became apparent that Prograis was in control, as Flanagan had no real answer.
In the eighth we saw what looked like it could be the end of the fight, as Prograis hurt and dropped Flanagan with a straight left. Credit should be given to Flanagan (33-2, 13 KO’s) for showing experience and heart to survive. Flanagan was trying to bounce back from a split-decision points loss to American Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker earlier this year, to no avail.
In the post-fight interview, Prograis said he showed us something different by going the full 12 rounds and that he really doesn’t care who he faces next, because he is going to win the full tournament anyways.
In the evening’s chief support, we saw rugged and hard-punching Ivan Baranchyk, also known as “The Beast”, batter Anthony Yigit over seven rounds before the ringside physician called a stop to the fight due to the severity of Yigit’s left eye. Not only does Baranchyk advance in the the tournament, he also collects the IBF junior welterweight title.
Baranchyk (19-0, 12 KO’s) had Yigit with a black eye by the time the second round was approaching and it was an injury that continued to get worse and worse. Stiff right hands from Baranchyk continued to do damage to Yigit’s eye and the swelling was becoming out-of-control. It was also obvious that Yigit’s vision was impaired.
The 27-year old Yigit (21-1-1, 7 KO’s) complained very much when the fight was called off, a true sign of his heart and character as a fighter. But it was the new champion’s night, as Baranchyk is a tough nut to crack and a very physically imposing character as well.
Prograis, who defended his WBC interim championship, will now meet Kiryl Relikh in the next year sometime early next year at a site to be determined. Relikh, the WBA 140-pound champion, also won his quarterfinal bout by decision against Eduard Troyanovsky earlier this month in Yokohama, Japan and it’s a great matchup for the semi-finals.
Meanwhile Baranchyk will wait for the winner of Ryan Martin vs. Josh Taylor, an excellent bout between two top notch prospects on the rise.
