Making his first appearance since October of last year, super-lightweight world champion, Josh Taylor, hardly broke a sweat on the way stopping the previously unbeaten Thai-challenger, Apinun Khongsong.
Towards the end of the first round, Taylor caught Khonsong with a left hand to the body that had the challenger reeling with pain and unable to continue - an ideal result for Taylor but for fans, a disappointing ending to what looked like it was shaping up to be a competitive fight.
Khonsong looked dangerous while it lasted and clearly had some snap to his punches. Taylor said in the post-fight interview that Khonsong was the likely the biggest puncher he'd been with so far, and went on to tell IFL TV: "He was very strong. . . I felt the weight behind his punches you know 100% he's got dynamite in his hands".
We've seen several upsets since boxing returned to our screens post-lockdown, with fighters having to adapt to the 'behind-closed-doors' format, and having to contend with ring rust - many of them having not fought for almost a full year.
Khonsong came into the bout with 13 KO's from 16 wins, and while he hadn't fought anywhere close to Taylor's level, the Scotsman and his team were well aware of the potential banana skin that Khonsong posed.
Taylor was fighting under the guidance of new trainer, Ben Davis, for the first time after ending his longstanding partnership with Shane Mcguigan at the very start of the year. Davis, who made his name guiding Tyson Fury through his incredible comeback, will no doubt be breathing a sigh of relief after getting a potentially dangerous challenger out of the way.
The win brings Tayor's record to 17-0 and keeps him on course for a mega-fight next year against WBC and WBO champion, José Ramírez. After outpointing Viktor Postol in his last outing, Ramírez made it clear that he wants the undisputed fight with Taylor next.
Should Taylor fight Ramírez and win, he would become undisputed at super-lightweight and make a strong case for himself as one of the pound for pound best in the world.
Speaking to IFL TV, Taylor said: "Two hungry champions, you know, I want it, he wants it so. . . obviously I want him next. . . I can't wait. . .I'm not impressed with what I saw [against postol] . . .I'm not impressed at all, so I'm rubbing my hands together. I can't wait and I can't wait to take the belts off him."
Over the course of his short career, Taylor has already achieved more than most do in a lifetime, winning the World Boxing Super Series and beating some of the biggest names in the division, including Viktor Postol, Ivan Baranchyk and most recently, Regis Prograis.
In beating Prograis at the WBSS final, Taylor added the WBA (super) and The Ring titles to the IBF belt that he relieved Baranchyk of at the semis just a few months prior.
Watch Taylor win the World Boxing Super Series final against Regis Prograis below -
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