According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the World Boxing Super Series added the junior welterweight division for their 2nd season of tournaments.
“We are very delighted to announce [junior welterweight] as our second weight class of the upcoming season,” said promoter Kalle Sauerland, the chief boxing officer for tournament organizer Comosa AG. “[Junior welterweight] is without a doubt one of the most action-packed weight divisions in boxing and we have a sensational lineup to be announced.”
The field for the 140-pound tournament has not yet been announced, but it is an open secret throughout the industry that it is expected to include Regis Prograis (21-0, 18 KOs), 29, a Houston southpaw, as long as he defeats Juan Jose Velasco on July 14 in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card; Cleveland contender Ryan Martin (22-0, 12 KOs), 25; world titleholder Kiryl Relikh (22-2, 19 KOs), 28, of Belarus, who likely will take on former titlist and mandatory challenger Eduard Troyanovsky (27-1, 24 KOs), 37, of Russia, in the quarterfinals; and Russia’s Ivan Baranchyk (18-0, 11 KOs), 25, and Anthony Yigit (21-0-1, 7 KOs), 26, of Sweden, who would meet for a vacant world title in another quarterfinal.
Two other fighters who have been prominently mentioned as possible entrants:
• Maurice Hooker (24-0-3, 16 KOs), 28, of Dallas, who won a vacant world title by split decision over Terry Flanagan on June 9. His team told ESPN it is considering an invitation to join the tournament.
• Josh Taylor (13-0, 11 KOs), 27, a southpaw from Scotland, who on Saturday won a hard-fought unanimous decision against former world titleholder Viktor Postol in a title elimination fight.
