Sports

Josh Wagner improves record to 14-0 with TKO

December 15, 2022   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

Local boxer, Josh Wagner, has improved his professional record to 14-0 after a third-round TKO in his most recent fight on Nov. 12.

The scheduled 8-round welterweight bout took place at the CAA Centre in Brampton and pitted Wagner against Yaser Yueksel, fighting out of Duesseldorf, Germany.

Yueksel came to the fight with a 13-5-1 pro record.

Unlike his previous fight where Wagner waited until the ninth round to step it up and put his opponent away, in this fight he came out with fists blazing in the first round.

He connected early and shook Yueksel, but didn’t drop him.

“In round three the ref jumped in,” Wagner said. “I had him on the ropes and just pounded him, and the ref saw enough. I hit him a couple of times in the first round. It was a big shot and his legs wobbled a few times. The second round was more relaxed. In the third round, I hit him with a big shot then hit him with a flurry and the ref jumped in.”

Wagner won the IBA Intercontinental Welterweight championship in September, but his latest match was not a title defence.

“When I was fighting for the title, I got the knockout in the ninth round but it was way too close for comfort, I waited too long,” Wagner said. “Going into this last fight I had a different mindset. That pace that I started with in round eight [of the previous fight], I wanted to bring that out earlier. As a fighter, my main objective is to put on a show for the fans. Obviously, that would be a knock-out, but at the end of the day, boxing is to hit, and not be hit, and that’s my main goal, to not be hit. I want to leave the ring as pretty as possible. Obviously, I don’t want to give any rounds away, but if I do, it’s generally the first one or two rounds – I like to see what’s up and feel comfortable.”

After the fight, Wager said he was taking a month off of heavy training.

He is now ranked 44th in the world and hopes to have four fights next year in a bid to move up the rankings.

The plan includes having fights abroad both in the U.S. and the U.K. with higher-ranked fighters to further establish his credibility in the ring.

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