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Josh Taylor defeats Jose Carlos Ramirez, becomes undisputed super lightweight champion

Josh Taylor

Josh Taylor (18-0) made boxing history on Saturday night, becoming the undisputed super lightweight champion after defeating Jose Carlos Ramirez (26-1).

All three judges scored the fight 114-112 in favor of Taylor.

Taylor became the seventh undisputed super lightweight champion in boxing history. He is the first Scottish fighter to win an undisputed championship since 1971 when Ken Buchanan earned the title in the lightweight division.

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The 30-year-old is also the first fighter to become undisputed super lightweight champion with fewer than 20 career fights.

The last undisputed champion in the super lightweight division was Terence Crawford doing so in August 2017. He achieved the feat by beating Julius Indongo by third-round knockout. This makes Crawford and Taylor the only undisputed champions in the division in the four-belt era.

This was the first unified title fight to crown an undisputed champion since July 21, 2018 when Oleksandr Usyk defeated Murat Gassiev.

Taylor won his first world super lightweight title in May 2019 in the semi-finals of the World Boxing Super Series. He captured the IBF Super Lightweight title after defeating Ivan Baranchyk. Taylor would unify the IBF and WBA belts in the finals when he beat Regis Prograis in a competitive bout by majority decision.

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This fight was the fifth time in a row that Taylor fought against an opponent with an undefeated record prior to the bout.

Ramirez first became world champion in March 2018 when he beat Amir Ahmed Imam to win the WBC Super Lightweight title. After two successful title defenses, he got a chance to become unified champion when he faced Maurice Hooker in July 2019 with the WBO belt also on the line.

In that fight, Ramirez beat Hooker by sixth-round TKO, becoming the undisputed WBC and WBO Super Lightweight champion. It all set up Saturday’s bout against Taylor.

The early rounds of the fight were hotly contested with Ramirez being the aggressor charging at Taylor who used his movement along the ropes and around the ring as well as timely shots to get the advantage. As the fight went on, both men transitioned to trading in the middle of the ring.

With the fight close through five rounds, momentum was shifted in the 6th and 7th rounds when Taylor scored a knockdown in each round on Ramirez. The first knockdown came from a counter left hook to the chin in the corner while the second was an uppercut off a clinch in the middle of the ring.

Ramirez showed great toughness getting off the canvas and continuing to bring the fight to Taylor. However, he was unable to snatch back the momentum lost as a result of the knockdowns leading to Taylor’s victory.

Should Josh Taylor choose to remain in the super lightweight division and defend his undisputed championship, he will look to become the first fighter to successfully do so in the division since Kostya Tszyu last did so in 2003.

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