Coming off his emphatic 11th round knockout of Jose Zepeda in late November, newly minted WBC junior welterweight champion, Regis Prograis, hit the open market. He was a boxer who had several lucrative options in terms of who would be promoting him, and therefore what fights were realistically available for him.
At the end, he linked up with Matchroom Boxing and Eddie Hearn.
The 34-year old native of New Orleans makes his debut for them this Saturday in front of his hometown fans at the Smoothie King Center versus late replacement, Danielito Zorrilla (17-1, 13 KOs).
DAZN
When asked why he made the decision he did, instead of say, inking with Top Rank (which showed great interest) Prograis explained on this weeks edition of 'the 3 Knockdown Rule', "It just felt like I was more of a priority with Eddie, that's all. I met with Top Rank, I met with Todd duBoef. They flew me out to (Las) Vegas, and we had a meeting. It was cool.
"But then Eddie met me in Houston, he came to sit with me. We ate dinner, stuff like that, right before the Canelo fight. It was on a Monday, and Canelo fought on Saturday. So he stopped in Houston just to meet with me."
During the broadcast on May 6 when Saul Alvarez faced John Ryder, the pact with Matchroom Boxing, and this date (which originally had Liam Paro as the opponent) was formally announced.
Another reason why Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) went this route is that he believes he will be more of a priority, ''With Eddie, I am one of the only U.S. champions." Prograis says that this current deal will call for him to fight three times within approximately a year.
Since losing a razor thin majority decision to Josh Taylor in the final of the World Boxing Super Series finals in 2019, Prograis had been a vagabond of sorts, as he fought on various platforms in venues in San Antonio, Dubai, Atlanta, and then Carson, California in his most recent outing. Now, there seems to be more structure to his career.
Matchroom Boxing
As you look into the future, should he get past Zorrilla as expected, perhaps Prograis faces Jack Catterall, who is aligned with Matchroom Boxing, and who knows, maybe a Devin Haney, who could soon be moving up.
He says of the potential match-up versus the current undisputed lightweight champion, "I feel like I'm the best at 140. You put me in front of anybody, I feel like Im going to beat him. I just feel like afer Devin's performance against (Vasily) Lomachenko, with the shos he got hit with by Loma, if I hit him with the same shots, it's going to be a different outcome. That's all."
Many believed that Prograis, who is currently rated second in the division by Ring Magazine, would go with Top Rank. It made sense given that Teofimo Lopez (who is the Ring champion at 140), Taylor, and Jose Ramirez are part of their roster. But he still had doubts about getting any of them in the ring.
Matchroom Boxing
"So the deal was," explained Prograis, "the first fight was supposed to be (Arnold) Barboza. I think it was going to be like Ramirez, and maybe a Teo-Taylor (winner). But for me, Barboza, he's average and stuff like that. With Ramirez, from what I understand, he has like one fight left in the contract (with Top Rank).
"So say I do go over to Top Rank, he might go somewhere else,"he continued. "I don't know, I don't know how it would've went. Then with Teo, he just said he's retiring, and then they say he might have just one fight left in the contract, too. So they're telling me these names who might not even be there.
"Why would I go that way? You say these names, but they may not really be there."
IT'S OVER?
Speaking of Teofimo Lopez, who announced his retirement, Bob Arum, the founder of Top Rank took this news in stride.
He told SNAC.com on Thursday afternoon, "I talked to him on the Monday after the fight, and we had a really nice conversation. He never mentioned retirement, and he never brought it up. Let me tell you, I've been involved in this business for about 60 years, and if I could get a barrell full of money every time a fighter -- win or lose -- says he's retired after a fight, and then of course comes back and fights, I'd be a wealthy man.
(For the record, Arum is doing OK financially, there is no need to start a GoFundMe campaign for him.)
In terms of his effort versus Josh Taylor, Arum was thoroughly impressed.
"I thought he demonstrated how good he can be, no question about it. He prepared well, he showed tremendous intelligence in the ring," stated Arum. "If he prepares that way, performs that way, he'll go into history as one of the greats."
As for who's next, Arum says, "We want to see who's available, and what's the best possible fight for him, and we make it."
That is of course, if he's not retired.
3KR
Catch the latest edition of 'the 3 Knockdown Rule' with Mario Lopez and yours truly, on your preferred platform by clicking on the Linktree.
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FINAL FLURRIES
Along with the DAZN card, Showtime has coverage of Tim Tszyu-Carlos O'Campo from Australia...Arum met with Bill Haney during his stay in New York City. He says the pow-wow with Devin's father was productive. "It always is, Bill is very, very intelligent."....Floyd Schofield, Joseph Diaz and Marlen Esparza have been added to the Vergil Ortiz-Eimantas Stanionis undercard on July 8.....Leonela Yudica has been tabbed to face Seniesa Estrada for her minimumweight titles on July 28 in Las Vegas on ESPN+....Great to have 'the Wonder Years' back on ABC....I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com.....
