Josh Taylor stopped Apinun Khongsong in the opening round to defend the IBF/WBA Junior Welterweight titles at York Hall in London.
Taylor landed a perfect left to the ribs that put Khongsgong down for the count at 2:41,
Taylot, 139.25 lbs of Scotland will take on Jose Ramirez for all four title belts at 140 lbs and now has a record of 17-0 with 13 knockouts. Khongsong, 139.5 lbs of Thailans is 16-1.
Taylor said, “One hundred percent, I want Ramirez next. He’s a very good champion, unbeaten like myself, hungry, on top of his game. I thought the {Viktor} Postol fight, it wasn’t a very good performance at all. I do feel he can perform better than that given the circumstances. Again, I wasn’t impressed with what I’ve seen from him. Again, I want that fight now. I believe I’ll whoop his ass all day long.
“I’ve never seen anything from him that I haven’t seen before, so yeah, I want that fight as soon as possible. Obviously, I know the situation with {Ramirez’s WBO} mandatory, but hopefully, we can sort of get that worked out. I would like, for selfish and personal reasons, to get that fight next. I deserve it. I’ve been in big fight after big fight for my last four fights. Not ducked anyone. Never ducked a tournament like someone else. I’m game. I’ll fight the best whenever they want. To be honest, I would rather wait until the fans are back for that fight. It’s a huge fight. It’s one of the biggest fights at the minute for all the belts.”
Charlie Edwards won a 10-round decision over Kyle Williams in a bantamweight bout.
Edwards, 117.5 lbs won by a 99-91 score and is now 16-1. Williams, 117.25 lbs is 11-3.
Ionut Baluta stopped Davey Oliver Joyce in round three of a scheduled 10-round super bantamweight fight
In round two, Joyce was cut around the right eye. In round three, Baluta dropped Joyce with a hard left hook. Baluta was all over Joyce and the fight was stopped after Joyce are a hard flurry on the ropes at 1:49.
Baluta, 121.25 lbs of Spain us 14-2 with three knockouts. Joyce, 121.25 lbs of Ireland falls to 12-2.
George Davey won a decision over Jeff Thomas in a for-round junior middleweight fight.
Davey, 154.5 lbs won by a 40-36 score and is 3-0. Thomas, 155.5 lbs is 12-8-3.
Ethan James remained undefeated by winning a four-round decision over Kris Pilkington in a super lightweight fight.
James, 141.25 lbs won by a 40-36 score and is now 4-0. Pilkington, 141.25 lbs is now 2-8-1.
