Regis Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) is ready to put on a show this Saturday night when he defends his WBC light welterweight title for the first time against Danielito Zorrilla (17-1, 13 KOs) at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Lousiana. The fight card will be shown liv on DAZN at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Prograis is hoping to look good against the 29-year-old Zorrilla, who is replacing the injured Liam Paro, and then possibly one of these talented fighters: Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, Subriel Matias, Jack Catterall, or Adrien Broner.
Although this wouldn’t be the ideal time for a rematch against former undisputed light welterweight champion Josh Taylor, Prograis will take the fight if it’s the best available one.
Prograis lost to Taylor by a twelve round majority decision four years ago in 2019 in London, and he’d like to finally get a chance to avenge his only career defeat.
The Puerto Rican fighter Zorrilla isn’t a huge name. He has wins over Pablo Cesar Cano, Ruslan Madiyev, and Gamaliel Diaz. Last year, Zorrilla lost to contender Arnold Barboza Jr by a ten round unanimous decision.
Prograis not overlooking Zorrilla
“Yeah, just like everybody else, I think I was definitely surprised. I’m just, you know, happy for him,” said Regis Prograis to iFL TV about his thoughts on Teofimo Lopez dethroning WBO light welterweight champion Josh Taylor last Saturday.
“It was a good performance. It just looked like he [Teofimo] was loose. He boxed, he did everything really well, and he took Josh Taylor shots, too. So that was all surprising what he did. So I’m just happy for him. Hopefully, he won’t retire for real. I don’t think he is, but hopefully, me and him can fight one day.
“Yeah, for sure, for sure. If I can, we’ll see. I mean it’s a lot for me. There are a lot of big fights out there. So if we can get to you Devin [Haney], Subriel Matias, or Teofimo [it would be great]. But first, I got to be a realist. I can’t overlook [Zorrilla].
“I think many people overlook my opponent, but I can’t do that. I feel like I have to make it feel like it’s going to be a harder fight than I think it’s going to be.
“With Matchroom, I feel like I’m a priority. When I flew to Vegas and met with Top Rank and Todd Duboef, Eddie Hearn flew me to Houston. He had dinner with me, so it just felt like it was more intricate details in the contract, but that was the main
thing.
“If I had signed with Top Rank, I would have felt like I was just part of something. I would have been just a piece in their puzzle. I still want to fight Josh Taylor. It’s always been two people I want to fight. That’s Adrien Broner and Josh Taylor.
Regis wants a big fight next
“Adrien Broner fought and won, but I didn’t think he looked that good. I still want to fight Adrien Broner, and I still want to fight Josh Taylor, but now I’m the WBC champion at 140. There are bigger things on the table for me right now.
“I do want those fights, but now it will be priorities. Other things are out there. Devin [Haney], [Subriel] Matias, [Jack] Catterall, and maybe Ryan [Garcia]. There are bigger fights for me out there right now.
“Hopefully, I can get Josh Taylor and Adrien Broner before we hang it up, but right now, I think it’s his priority. I want to thank everybody. We have tickets as low as twenty dollars,” said Prograis about his fight against Danielito Zorrilla this Saturday, June 17th, at the Smoothies Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
“A lot of people think it’s going to be really, really high and not affordable. We do have a lot of tickets as low as twenty dollars. I just want to thank everybody that are supporting me. I think it’s going to be fire. We got a lot of celebrities coming and a lot of special guests coming.
“The walkout is going to be crazy. We got a show for y’all. So yeah everything is going to be fine. It’s going to be a fire show Saturday night. It’s going to be a show,” said Prograis.
