The second season of the World Boxing Super Series is officially upon us.
Following on from the successes of the first instalment, participants for the sequel of the revolutionary knockout-format tournament gathered for a glitzy black-tie gala in Moscow, Russia.
On the eve of the cruiserweight final in Moscow – that saw Ukrainian star Oleksandr Usyk produce a masterclass to defeat then-unbeaten Murat Gassiev by lopsided decision – it was the turn of the bantamweights and super lightweights to learn their fate ahead of the new season.
Below, we take a look at the four quarter-final announcements from the 140lbs super lightweight division and, as predicted, the tournament has thrown up some intriguing match-ups for fans of the sport to look forward to…
Regis Prograis vs Terry Flanagan
Number-one-seed Regis Prograis (22-0-0, 19 KO’s) will face the U.K.’s Terry Flanagan (33-1-0, 13 KO’s) in the first quarter-final of the World Boxing Super Series super lightweight tournament.
Prograis, the current WBC ‘Interim’ titlist, is a deadly blend of speed, movement and power. All of which have been on display in his last three outings: all destructive stoppage wins.
Firstly against then-fellow-prospect Joel Diaz Jr, followed by a two-round blitz of former unified titleholder Julius Indongo and, in his most recent bout, a one-sided mauling of then-undefeated Juan Jose Velasco. The vicious New Orleans southpaw scored an incredible eleven knockdowns in those match-ups, and his left hand – as well as his thudding body attack – can trouble anyone in the 140lbs division.
His oppoennt, Terry Flanagan, is a former WBO lightweight titleholder: but never faced a marquee name during an underwhelming two year title reign.
In his last fight, Flanagan moved up in weight to face American Maurice Hooker for the vacant WBO super lightweight title, but fell short, losing a split decision in his home-city of Manchester, and with it, his unbeaten record. Flanagan is now hoping to rebuild his career by entering the WBSS 140lbs tournament.
Prograis figures to be a big favourite in this match-up, holding nearly every conceivable advantage other than experience. Flanagan is a durable operator and has never been badly hurt – let alone stopped – during his professional career, but both are a serious possibility heading into this fight.
Josh Taylor vs Ryan Martin
WBC silver champion Josh Taylor (13-0-0, 11 KO’s) is one of the rising stars of the 140lbs division and continues his boxing journey with a quarter-final clash against American prospect Ryan ‘Blue Chip’ Martin (22-0-0, 12 KO’s).
Taylor, of Prestonpans, Scotland and dubbed the ‘Tartan Tornado’, has been moved expertly through the professional ranks under the management of ‘Hall of Famer’ Barry McGuigan and is trained by McGuigan’s son Shane, one of the most respected young trainers in the sport.
He has been matched tough, but never inappropriately so. In his last fight against former titleholder Viktor Postol, Taylor well and truly came-of-age. In a high-quality and competitive bout, Taylor dropped the Ukrainian in the tenth round and earned a hard-fought but deserved decision, marred only by absurdly wide scorecards.
Unbeaten Martin was widely tipped as a future star by US boxing insiders following a successful amateur career, but has struggled to live up to his nickname and the surrounding hype despite maintaining a perfect record in the paid ranks to date.
Less than one year ago, he scraped past unheralded Mexican Francisco Rojo on a split decision. That fight took place at lightweight where Martin had campaigned from the beginning of his career. In his last fight, Martin easily outpointed gatekeeper Breidis Prescott over eight rounds in a super lightweight contest.
Standing at 5ft 11″, Martin was enormous for the lightweight division and the move up to 140lbs will suit his frame a lot better.
However, Taylor is widely regarded as one of the favourites to win the tournament while Martin’s status as a top prospect is on shaky ground.
The Scotsman faced and passed a much tougher test in his last fight against Postol, and barring Martin producing the performance of his life, a comfortable Taylor victory is on the cards.
Kiryl Relikh vs Eduard Troyanovsky
Recently-crowned WBA World super lightweight champion Kiryl Relikh (22-2-0, 19 KO’s) will make the first defence of his belt against mandatory challenger and former titleholder Eduard Troyanovsky (27-1-0, 24 KO’s).
Belarussian national Relikh controversially fell short in successive fights against then-WBA titleholder Ricky Burns and Rances Barthelemy (in a title eliminator) before gaining sweet revenge against Barthelemy in a rematch for the vacant belt, overwhelming the Cuban with an avalanche of punches and taking a deserved wide points victory.
Russian veteran Troyanovsky held the IBF title between 2015 and 2016 before being knocked out cold inside one round in a spectacular upset by Julius Indongo. He has since rebounded with two stoppage wins, one of which came against former World title challenger Michele Di Rocco.
With both men boasting aggressive styles and high knockout ratios, expect a hard-hitting and entertaining Eastern Bloc clash.
The youth, energy and work-rate of the champion Relikh will be favoured to prevail, but Troyanovsky, with his dangerous and rangy punching-power, cannot be counted out.
Ivan Baranchyk vs Anthony Yigit
In the fourth quarter-final, Russian contender Ivan Baranchyk (18-0-0, 11 KO’s) takes on Anthony Yigit (21-0-1, 7 KO’s) in a battle of undefeated fighters mandated for the IBF title.
Baranchyk brings an action-packed style to the table, which – while exciting to watch – leaves him somewhat vulnerable.
He traded knockdowns with Abel Ramos on Showtime last year, in an absolute slugfest that was an early ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate. In his last outing in March this year, Baranchyk battered former two-time World title challenger Petr Petrov en route to an impressive eighth round stoppage.
European super lightweight champion Yigit was originally meant to fight Baranchyk in March, but withdrew due to illness and was replaced by Petrov. The Swedish national of Turkish descent has faced middling opposition at best in his career-to-date, with the highest profile name on his resume being long-faded former titleholder DeMarcus ‘Chop Chop’ Corley.
Baranchyk does not possess devastating power, but will wear you down with his strength and relentlessness. Yigit, who, with only one stoppage win in his last seven fights, is not a big puncher, will likely have his hands full with the man labelled ‘The Beast’.
Article by: Paul Lam
Follow Paul on Twitter at: @PaulTheWallLam