Regis Prograis has vowed to retain his WBC World Super-Lightweight title in style against Danielito Zorrillaat the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Saturday night, live worldwide on DAZN.
 
Prograis (28-1 24 KOs) defends his strap for the first time after becoming a two-time World champion after stopping Jose Zepeda in California in November, and ‘Rougarou’ faces Zorrilla (17-1 13 KOs) in a long-awaited return to his New Orleans hometown.
 
Teofimo Lopez pulled off a big upset last Saturday in New York with a composed performance against Prograis’ old foe Josh Taylor, but the Brooklyn man has vacated the WBO title and vowed to walk away from the sport following the victory at Madison Square Garden.
 
Prograis has insisted all his focus is on the dangerous Puerto Rican challenger on Saturday, but the 34 year old was full of praise for Lopez’s performance, and hopes that the pair can meet in a fight that was predicted by the maverick Teofimo Lopez Sr five years ago.
 
“I wanted Josh to win so I could fight him again, but now, I just have got to fight Teofimo,” said Prograis. “I know he’s saying he’s retired but I hope he is not. I think that would be a huge fight and we must do it.
 
“[Lopez vs. Taylor] was good for boxing, two fighters that needed that win, they were both coming off performances that meant they needed to win. I’m not going to lie, I doubted Teo, I thought he was going to lose, but Teo just went out and did his thing. I take my hat off to him and congratulate him on his win. I wouldn’t say Josh is washed up, I don’t know if he’s shot, he didn’t look good though and Teo had every answer for him. 
 
“Josh just couldn’t hit him often with big shots, and even when he did hit him with some left hands and uppercuts, it didn’t have any effect on Teo. Josh couldn’t touch Teo too much because he was being slick, and even when he did, nothing happened or worked for Josh. Around the fourth round I think I had it level, but after that Teo got into his groove and his rhythm and took over.
 
“I was surprised that Teo was able to rock Josh in the later rounds and honestly, he made Josh look ordinary, he really did. I don’t know if it was because of Teo or because of Josh, if he’s shot, I don’t know. He didn’t look like a former undisputed champion in there.”