Josh Taylor drops Jose Ramirez twice as he makes British history in Las Vegas
"I would like to go up to 147 and chase some big fights like Terence Crawford. I am not going to call him out, he is a great fighter, but two undisputed champions going at it would be awesome."
Josh Taylor made history last night as he became undisputed junior welterweight world champion in Las Vegas.
The Tartan Tornado floored Jose Ramirez twice in Las Vegas to score a unanimous points victory; In doing so, he becomes only the fifth man and the first Briton to claim the WBO, WBA, IBF and WBC titles simultaneously since the four-belt era officially began in 2004.
The Scot, under Ben Davison, knocked Ramirez down in consecutive rounds and felt his victory had been more emphatic than the 114-112 scores awarded by all three judges.
Taylor joins Oleksandr Usyk, Bernard Hopkins, Jermain Taylor andΒ Terence Crawford in securing the clean sweep and is the first Scot to be undisputed world champion since Ken Buchanan returned from Los Angeles with two belts 50 years ago.
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β Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 23, 2021
In a fight that had everything, @JoshTaylorBoxer delivered the game-changing moments that helped him secure his place in history. π΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώπͺ pic.twitter.com/IQxbVA9mtE
Zepeda Decisions Lundy
It wasn't a vintage "Chon" performance, but Jose Zepeda did what needed to be done. Zepeda, in his first bout since his Fight of the Year victory over Ivan Baranchyk, won a one-sided unanimous decision over former world title challenger "Hammerin" Hank Lundy.
All three judges scored the fight 98-92 for Zepeda (34-2, 26 KOs), who is the WBC No. 1 contender at 140 pounds. Lundy (31-9-1, 14 KOs) saw his two-bout winning streak come to an end.
Sims Shocks Elvis, Coria controversial
Kenneth "Bossman" Sims Jr. was once one of America's top amateur talents, but a pair of professional losses stunted his momentum.
Sims dominated the second half of the fight, winning the last four rounds on two of the judges' cards to clinch the win.
Sims remarked, "I got a baby on the way, so that's all the extra motivation I needed."
Featherweight: Jose Enrique Vivas (21-1, 11 KOs) UD 8 Louie Coria (12-5, 7KOs). Scores: 75-74 3x.
The hard-luck Coria has now lost his last three bouts, all via controversial decision. Vivas outlanded Coria 239-209.
Junior Lightweight: Andres Cortes (14-0, 10 KOs) UD 8 Eduardo Garza (15-4-1, 8 KOs). Scores: 79-73, 78-74 and 77-75.
Las Vegas native Cortes swept the first three rounds and never looked back, outlasting Mexican veteran Garza over eight rounds.
Featherweight: Robeisy Ramirez (7-1, 4 KOs) UD 6 Ryan Allen (10-5-1 5 KOs). Scores: 60-53 2x and 59-54.
Allen provided some resistance and won the fourth round on one of the judges' cards.
Lightweight: Raymond Muratalla (12-0, 10 KOs) TKO 5 Jose Gallegos (20-11, 15 KOs), 1:40.
This marked only the third stoppage defeat of Gallegos' career, while Muratalla notched his seventh straight knockout victory.
Middleweight: Javier Martinez (4-0, 2 KOs) KO 4 Calvin Metcalf (10-6-1, 3 KOs), 1:33.