Picking up a win for Teofimo Lopez appeared to be virtually impossible. Whether it was the betting market, his adoring fans, or his fellow contemporaries, many were of the belief that the chatty Lopez was simply in over his head this past weekend. But, despite being counted out and left for dead, it was Lopez who got the last laugh.

This past Saturday night, at the Hulu Theater in New York’s Madison Square Garden, Josh Taylor brushed past a booing crowd and marched right to the center of the ring. While he was confident that the much smaller Lopez would have no answers for his size, skills, and overall grittiness, Lopez (19-1, 13 KOs) fought a near-perfect fight.

Heading in, Regis Prograis was convinced that Lopez would be on the wrong end of a brutal beating. But after easily boxing his way to a unanimous decision, the current WBC super lightweight belt holder stood on his feet and gave the 25-year-old a standing ovation. As Lopez now contemplates his next move, including an unexpected retirement announcement, Prograis believes that as long as Lopez sticks around, the two will have to meet up.

“I gotta fight Teo,” said Prograis to BoxingScene.com. “I gotta fight Teo. Got too, got too for sure. I think that would be a huge fight. Me and Teo have to fight. We got to, we gotta fight.”

Hanging over a possible clash between Prograis and Lopez is the former's aforementioned retirement announcement and Prograis’ looming title defense.

Shortly after proving that Taylor wasn't quite on his level, Lopez sauntered his way to media row and claimed that his fighting days are officially over. At just the age of 25, however, Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) isn’t completely buying that Lopez has hung up his gloves for good. Outside of swerving the retirement talk, Prograis has a homecoming title defense against Danielito Zorrilla on June 17th at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

By and large, Prograis is well aware that treating Zorrilla like an innocuous threat would be the wrong move. So, with the fringe contender getting all of his attention, Prograis is hoping to take care of business next Saturday night and then eventually move on to a showdown that he feels simply has to happen.

“I definitely want that fight for sure. I can’t overlook Zorrilla but after that, hopefully I can fight Teo.”