Prograis vs Taylor: Both fighters feel they have style advantage

Scotland’s Josh Taylor is just under three weeks away from his 140-pound showdown with Regis Prograis, which is a title unification and the finals of the World Boxing Super Series tournament, live on DAZN from London.

Taylor (15-0, 12 KO) believes that his his size advantage will be part of what tells the story on Oct. 26:

“This fight proves who the true No. 1 is. I believe it is myself, he believes it is him. I do believe we are the two best in the division. He likes to blow smoke up his own behind, and believe his own hype. I let him do his talking. I do my talking in the ring, so we’ll see on the night. I am too big for him, too tall for him, too quick for him. Size will be a telling factor in this fight.”

Taylor, 28, will have some advantages physically against Prograis (24-0, 20 KO). He’s taller, at 5’10” to Prograis’ 5’8”, and he’s got a slightly longer reach, 69½” to Prograis’ 67”. Or at least those are the official listed measurements for the two.

Prograis, 30, believes his style — and ability to fight in different ways — will give him the edge:

“I’m super-confident, there’s no way he can beat me, it’s not being cocky or arrogant, it’s just how I feel. All his 15 fights look the same, all mine look different. My style will prove to be the better one, I can do so many different things and he does get hit a lot.”

Both guys have a reasonable enough stance here, really, and speaking of stances, they’re also both southpaws, so that won’t be the advantage it sometimes can be for a high-level fighter.

Prograis is bringing the WBA belt and Taylor the IBF. It figures to be a good fight along with being significant, and is one of the best on the schedule right now. At worst, it’s No. 2 vs No. 3 in a very good division, and that’s if you’re in the minority that consider WBC/WBO titleholder Jose Ramirez the true No. 1 guy in the division right now.