Here are the semifinal bouts for cruiserweight, junior welterweight, and bantamweight season two of the World Boxing Super Series.
The World Boxing Super Series just wrapped up six consecutive weeks of tournament doubleheaders for its three weight classes, leaving us with two semifinals in each division to look forward to in early 2019. With all of the quarterfinals complete, here are the matchups for the semifinals.
Bantamweights (118 lbs)
Zolani Tete (28-3, 21 KOs) vs. Nonito Donaire (39-5, 25 KOs)
Naoya Inoue (17-0, 15 KOs) vs. Manny Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs)
Junior welterweights (140 lbs)
Josh Taylor (14-0, 12 KOs) vs. Ivan Baranchyk (19-0, 12 KOs)
Regis Prograis (23-0, 19 KOs) vs. Kiryl Relikh (23-2, 19 KOs)
Cruiserweights (200 lbs)
Yunier Dorticos (23-1, 21 KOs) vs. Andrew Tabiti (17-0, 13 KOs)
Mairis Briedis (25-1, 18 KOs) vs. Krzysztof Glowacki (31-1, 19 KOs)
The only “upset” of the quarterfinals was Nonito Donaire winning by injury TKO vs. Ryan Burnett, who hurt his back in the fourth round of their fight over a week ago, handing Donaire the WBA bantamweight title. He’ll be unifying his belt with WBO champion Zolani Tete of South Africa, who bested Mikhail Aloyan by unanimous decision in Russia.
Inoue vs. Rodriguez is the most entertaining matchup on paper, as “The Monster” knocked out former world champion Juan Carlos Payano in just 70 seconds, while IBF champion Rodriguez eked out a split decision over Jason Moloney in an absolutely thrilling, grueling 12-round affair. There really is a chance that we see Inoue against Donaire in the final, but Tete should be a sizable favorite against the Filipino legend, and frankly 2019 Donaire might get mauled by Inoue.
At junior welterweight, Josh Taylor had a dominant showing vs. Ryan Martin, and the Scotsman scored the seventh-round TKO in front of his home fans. IBF champion Ivan Baranchyk advanced to the semis thanks to making Anthony Yigit’s eye look really bad. America’s Regis Prograis is an exciting up-and-coming talent with an interest in MMA, and in the boxing ring he made easy work of England’s Terry Flanagan, scoring a knockdown and winning a decision. Relikh, whom like Baranchyk hails from Belarus, defended his WBA title with a competitive unanimous decision over Edouard Troyanovsky in October. To be perfectly honest, Taylor vs. Prograis is the fight that looks to be most mouthwatering, but all four fighters are worth the watch.
Lastly, the second chapter of cruiserweight hasn’t been as good as the first tournament, which produced an undisputed champion in Oleksandr Usyk. Yunier Dorticos did pick up an exciting decision win over a very tough Mateusz Masternak, but Floyd Mayweather-promoted Andrew Tabiti had a dismal bout vs. Ruslan Fayfer in Russia. Former WBC champion Mairis Briedis was very fortunate to get a unanimous decision against Noel Gevor in an ugly as hell matchup, while former WBO champion Krzysztof Glowacki earned a decision vs. Maxim Vlasov in a compelling contest. Dorticos vs. Briedis is the fight we should get once the semis are complete, but Briedis’ performance against Gevor is cause for concern.
The bantamweight winner will have unified the WBA, WBO, and IBF titles, the junior welterweight winner will possess the IBF and WBA belts, while cruiserweight is up in the air due to Usyk having all the major titles. At a minimum, a hefty paycheck and the Muhammad Ali Trophy will be in store for all three tournament champions.
Dates and venues will be announced in the coming weeks.