Josh Taylor easily retained his WBA (Super), IBF and Ring Magazine Super Lightweight world titles, needing less than a round to dispatch the hapless Apinun Khongsong at York Hall.
After nearly two-and-a-half-minutes of not a lot of action, the fight spectacularly exploded into life and reached its conclusion.
As the two came off a clinch, Taylor (17-0, 13 KOs) landed with what looked like a short left hook to the body that crumpled the Khongsong in half, who remained down for the full count and for several minutes after as he writhed in pain.
It took Khongsong (16-1, 13 KOs) some time to find his feet and it looked like he may have damaged ribs as he left the arena on a stretcher. The fight ender was a strange one, but showcased the power the Scot has.
“It sunk right in,” Taylor told BT Sport post-fight.
“I knew watching videos of him that he swings whilst on the break, so I saw that coming, smothered him, and sunk the left hand in.
“I knew it was a good shot, I felt it go right through my arm”.
“It was a lovely shot, but I would have liked to have shown what we were polishing in the gym. You don’t get paid overtime and I can now get my usual pint and a pizza!”
Thoughts now turn to what would be a mouthwatering undisputed clash with WBC and WBO champion, Jose Ramirez for Taylor, but Jack Catterall is Ramirez’s mandatory challenger for the WBO belt and Ramirez must negotiate a fight with the Chorley man first, or negotiate a step aside deal.
Ramirez edged a decision win over Viktor Postol in his last outing a matter of weeks ago.
“I want Ramirez next,” Taylor added.
“He’s a very good champion at the top of his game. Hopefully he can get his mandatory situation sorted out.
“It wasn’t a good performance that he had against Postol and I wasn’t impressed. I believe I whip his ass all day long. I want that fight as soon as possible.
“Hopefully I can get that fight next, but a fight of that magnitude needs to be in front of a crowd.”
Charlie Edwards was given ten hard rounds on his Queensberry Promotions debut, as he took a points win over former British title challenger Kyle Williams, who suffered his third defeat in his last four fights.
Edwards, who signed a promotional pact with Frank Warren in April was fighting at Bantamweight, after outgrowing the weight class and a controversial no contest with Julio Cesar Martinez in August 2019, further encourage ‘The Eagle’ to relinquish the title.
Edwards (16-1, 6 KOs) targeted the body of Williams (11-3, 3 KOs) in the opener, landing with whipping left hands downstairs, but the challenger kept a nice, tight guard throughout the first round.
Edwards landed with a flurry of shots to the body to begin the second, but the action was competitive. The pair exchanged in the third and Williams certainly wasn’t overawed by his more decorated opponent.
A well timed right hand from Williams in the fifth left the 27-year-old off balance and disorientated and Williams clipped his man again with a right as he grew in confidence, also landing an uppercut at the end of his best round of the contest.
Edwards regrouped in the sixth and got back to his boxing, picking off Williams in the seventh as his footwork slowed down.
Edwards stayed mostly on the back foot in the closing stages and away from trouble, as Williams showboated to try and force mistakes that never materialised, as the fight went to the referee’s scorecard.
Bob Williams returned a verdict of 99-91, which was slightly harsh on Williams, as Edwards made a winning return and plans to drop down to Super Flyweight.
“I needed to shake off the ring rust” Edwards told BT Sport post-fight.
“Flyweight took it out of me. I’m not a Bantamweight, and I see my future at Super Flyweight.
“Fair play to Kyle, he didn’t stop coming and was no mug. The Martinez fight knocked my confidence, but I got back on track, and I’m back now. I can now look for bigger and better fights.”
Ionut Baluta stunned David Oliver Joyce, halting the Irishman inside three rounds to rip away Joyce’s WBO European Super Bantamweight title.
Baluta (14-2, 3 KOs) dropped Joyce (12-2, 9 KOs) heavily with a massive left hook in the third and although the 33-year-old rose and survived the count, a follow up assault forced the referee’s intervention.
York’s George Davey (3-0), trained by former three-time world title challenger, Henry Wharton, took a 40-36 win over Jeff Thomas (12-8-3, 1 KO) at Super Welterweight.
The televised opener came at Super Lightweight, where Northampton’s Eithan James (4-0) made if four wins from as many contests with a 40-36 win on Bob Williams’ scorecard over Gateshead’s Kris Pilkington (2-8-1).
Lightweight prospect Jordan Flynn (2-0) remained unbeaten with a shutout win over Jamie Quinn (7-105-2) over six rounds.
