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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.

Both he and Ramirez had put two titles and unbeaten records on the line while Taylor also retained the Ring Magazine belt.
"This has been 15 years in the making, dedicating my life to the sport, putting everything on hold, my social life, things I wanted to do with my friends, my family, my fiancee, things I have missed out on. It has all been geared to this moment, and it has finally paid off," said Taylor after his 18th professional fight.
"I don't feel surprised, I really don't feel surprised that I am undisputed champion. But it has not sunk in yet."
Taylor withstood some heavy shots in the third and fourth rounds before catching Ramirez with a counter left hook in the sixth.
An uppercut in the latter stages of the seventh rocked Ramirez further and Taylor controlled the fight in the following rounds before keeping out of the way of his Californian opponent's attempts to land a late knockout.
"He left himself open, he put his head down and I took a step back and hit him with the upper-cut," Taylor said. "I actually think the referee gave him too much time, that should have been fight over.
"He was very, very tough, hats off to Ramirez. But after I put him down, the fight was on my terms. I just stood and boxed and he didn't know what to do."
Taylor apologised to Ramirez after getting into fight mode during the first face-off and weigh-in.
"It was all just part of the mind games to get inside his head to make him more eager to jump in on me, to use his aggression against him," the Prestonpans fighter said.
"It worked perfectly, I walked him into some good shots.
"I have nothing but love and respect for Ramirez, he was a great champion and a great ambassador for the sport, I wish him all the best for the future."
Taylor could now be set to fight Chorley's Jack Catterall, who had been the mandatory challenger for the WBO belt that Ramirez put on the line, but he is eager to create more history.
"We will see what comes my way, I am not going to be short of options," the 30-year-old said. "Every fight is going to be huge. I will just ride the wave.
"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.
"There's big fights at 140. I am not afraid to fight anybody. We might have to fight Catterall first as well, he agreed to step aside to let this fight happen.
"I've not boxed in my home city for a few years so I would love to take a big fight back to Scotland. Now is the time to get that fight at Edinburgh Castle or Easter Road."
Taylor added: "I still don't feel I have reached my full potential. Until I feel I don't think I could do any better, I am going to keep going and going. I am hungry for more."

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.

Well, Sims (16-2-1, 5 KOs) is a contender now, as he shocked top prospect Elvis Rodriguez (11-1-1, 10 KOs) via an eight-round majority decision by scores of 76-76 and 78-74 2x.

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.

What's an evening of boxing without a little controversy?
Coria knocked down Vivas twice in the third round, and Vivas had a point deducted for low blows in the fourth.
Vivas rallied in the second half of the fight, winning the last four rounds, according to two of the judges.

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.

Two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Ramirez won his seventh consecutive bout, dropping Allen in the second round and cruising to the points victory.

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.

"Danger" Muratalla lived up to his nickname, pounding Gallegos to the body until the veteran had seen enough.

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.

Martinez opened the show with some thunder, knocking out Metcalf with a right hook in the center of the ring.
Metcalf's legs were rubber, and the referee didn't bother to finish the count.

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