- Taylor beat Ramirez on points to become undisputed world champion
- He becomes the fifth man to hold all four belts in his weight class
Josh Taylor has become undisputed light welterweight world champion after beating Jose Ramirez in Las Vegas.
Taylor beat Ramirez by unanimous decision to add the Mexican American’s WBC and WBO belts to his own WBA and IBF titles.
The win comes after just 18 professional fights for the ‘Tartan Tornado’, who won on all three judge’s scorecards by 114-112.
The Scottish fighter becomes UK’s first unified world champion of the four-belt era and only the fifth man to hold all four belts in his weight class.
With both fighters unbeaten going into the fight, there was a confident approach to the fight from their respective camps and the champions brought their best in a memorable fight.
Taylor had landed telling blows and also taken his share but the action went up a level when he put his opponent down early in the sixth.
In the seventh, Taylor put his opponent down again, a left uppercut putting Ramirez on his back. This time the American looked shaken but saw out the round to return to his corner.
The result brought confirmation that the knockdowns had shown Taylor to be the better man on the night and he lifted both hands in triumph, having put his name in the history books as one of Scotland’s best ever fighters.
Having now won all four belts in the light welterweight division, Taylor could now move up in weight, having said that he wants to challenge Terence Crawford at 147 pounds.
