The World Boxing Super Series has announced a world title doubleheader that is set to take place in the United States on April 27.
The two tournament fights announced are a junior welterweight semifinal showdown between Regis Prograis and Kiryl Relikh and a bantamweight semifinal matchup between Nonito Donaire and Zolani Tete. Both fights are world title fights and will take place at a venue to be announced at a later date.
The matchup between Prograis and Relikh will be for the WBA 140-pound title. The winner of this matchup will face the winner of the other semifinal fight between IBF champion Ivan Baranchyk and Josh Taylor, set for May in Glasgow, Scotland. Prograis, the interim WBC champion, won his quarterfinal fight against Terry Flanagan last year while Relikh defeated Eduard Troyanovsky in their first-round bout in Japan.
As for the bantamweight fight, the winner won't just get a ticket to the WBSS finals, but also unify the WBA "Super" and WBO titles. Donaire, the WBA titleholder, scored the bantamweight tournament's lone upset last year when he was awarded the victory after his fight against Ryan Burnett abruptly ended. Burnett failed to answer the bell for round five after suffering an injury to his right internal oblique. Tete has been the WBO champion since 2017 and won his quarterfinal fight last October when he won a unanimous decision against Mikhail Aloyan.
The winner of Donaire vs. Tete will fight the winner of the IBF title bout between Emmanuel Rodriguez and Naoya Inoue. The winner of the WBSS bantamweight tournament would walk with three of the four major governing bodies.