Josh Taylor is set to return on Saturday, headlining an ESPN+ card against mandatory challenger Apinun Khongsong, defending his WBA and IBF junior welterweight titles.
Taylor (16-0, 12 KO) unified those titles in Oct. 2019, with his World Boxing Super Series tournament final win over Regis Prograis, a narrow victory in London. There was no real controversy, mind you; while Prograis kept it very competitive, Taylor was the rather undisputed winner, taking majority decision cards of 114-114, 115-13, and 117-112. Bad Left Hook at the time had it 114-114 and 116-112 for Taylor.
It was a well-fought, exciting bout that lived up to the hype it had going in, and one worth looking back on a year later.
On Saturday (ESPN+, 2 pm ET), the 29-year-old Taylor will return against Apinun Khongsong (16-0, 13 KO), a largely unknown, 24-year-old fighter from Thailand. Khongsong is getting a mandatory shot and chance to win two belts, while Taylor is looking to turn this fight into a win and an eventual chance to schedule an undisputed title fight against Jose Ramirez, who has the WBC and WBO belts.
It’s not expected that Taylor will have the same challenge in Khongsong that he did in Prograis, but then you never know.