Josh Taylor vacates WBA title, Ramirez-Zepeda ordered for vacant WBA title

Josh Taylor has removed another piece from his junior welterweight title collection.

The Scotland native has formally vacated the WBC title, effectively ending the oft-postponed purse bid for Taylor's mandatory title defense.

The news comes more than two months after the bout was initially ordered and following three delays to determine promotional rights for the bout.

Zepeda (35-2, 27 KOs), who is coming off a second-round knockout of Francisco Perez on March 19, will soon get his shot at the vacant title. The WBC ordered a fight between Zepeda and former unified champion Jose Ramirez, in what would be a sequel to their controversial February 2019 affair in Fresno. Ramirez defeated Zepeda via majority decision in a bout that most saw Zepeda winning. The 29-year-old went on to unify two belts following a sixth-round TKO of Maurice Hooker. However, his three-year title reign came to an end with a defeat to Taylor in their undisputed championship last May. He returned to victory lane on March 4 with a 12-round unanimous decision win against Jose Pedraza.

The respective teams of Zepeda and Ramirez will have 30-days to come to a deal, before an August 1 purse bid hearing will be held. Top Rank promotes Ramirez and has co-promoted Zepeda's contests for several years in partnership with Zanfer Boxing.

Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs) has now vacated two of the four titles he won following his triumph over Ramirez. The Scottish southpaw also relinquished the WBA title in May.

Albert Puello (20-0, 10 KOs) will face former secondary title challenger Batyr Akhmedov (9-1, 8 KOs) for the vacant WBA "Regular" title.